Editing Farwell, Texas

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Farwell, Texas
| settlement_type    = [[City]]
| nickname           = 
| motto              = <!-- Images -->
| image_skyline      = Farwell Texas City Hall 2019.jpg
| imagesize          = 250px
| image_caption      = Farwell City Hall
| image_flag         = 
| image_seal         = <!-- Maps -->
| image_map          = TXMap-doton-Farwell.PNG
| mapsize            = 250px
| map_caption        = Location of Farwell, Texas
| image_map1         = Parmer County Farwell.svg
| mapsize1           = 250px
| map_caption1       = <!-- Location -->
| subdivision_type   = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name   = United States
| subdivision_type1  = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Texas]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[List of counties in Texas|County]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Parmer County, Texas|Parmer]]

<!-- Government -->| government_footnotes = 
| government_type    = 
| leader_title       = 
| leader_name        = 
| leader_title1      = 
| leader_name1       = 
| established_title  = 
| established_date   = <!-- Area -->
| unit_pref          = Imperial
| area_footnotes     = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2019">{{cite web|title=2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2019_Gazetteer/2019_gaz_place_48.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 7, 2020}}</ref>
| area_magnitude     = 
| area_total_km2     = 2.13
| area_land_km2      = 2.13
| area_water_km2     = 0.00
| area_total_sq_mi   = 0.82
| area_land_sq_mi    = 0.82
| area_water_sq_mi   = 0.00

<!-- Population -->| population_as_of   = [[2020 United States Census|2020]]
| population_footnotes = 
| population_total   = 1425
| population_density_km2 = auto

<!-- General information -->| timezone           = [[North American Central Time Zone|Central (CST)]]
| utc_offset         = -6
| timezone_DST       = CDT
| utc_offset_DST     = -5
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m        = 1263
| elevation_ft       = 4144
| coordinates        = {{coord|34|22|59|N|103|2|18|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code_type   = [[ZIP code]]
| postal_code        = 79325
| area_code          = [[Area code 806|806]]
| blank_name         = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info         = 48-25548<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=2008-01-31 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref>
| blank1_name        = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info        = 1357260<ref name="GR3">{{cite web|url=http://geonames.usgs.gov|access-date=2008-01-31|title=US Board on Geographic Names|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|date=2007-10-25}}</ref>
| website            = 
| footnotes          = 
| population_density_sq_mi = auto
}}

'''Farwell''' is a city in and the [[county seat]] of [[Parmer County, Texas]], United States.<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |access-date=2011-06-07 |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |archive-date=2011-05-31 }}</ref> Its population was 1,425 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].<ref name=":0" /> The city is located on the Texas-New Mexico border with the city of [[Texico, New Mexico]] across the border.

==History==
Farwell began as a cow camp for the [[XIT Ranch]], a huge ranch that was established in 1880. Farwell was named for brothers [[Charles B. Farwell|Charles B.]] and [[John V. Farwell]] of [[Lake Forest, Illinois]], who built the [[Texas State Capitol]] building in exchange for {{convert|3,050,000|acre|km2}} of ranchland. That region of Texas had been controlled by the [[Comanche]] from about 1725, when they defeated the [[Apache]] and forced them to migrate to the [Sierra Blanca range] in New Mexico and to other regions [the southernmost point of the Rockies is near Santa Fe]. The Red River War of 1874–1875—the biggest military operation the U.S. had between the Civil War and World War One—had five armies converge on that part of the High Plains, ultimately defeating the main Comanche force in Palo Duro Canyon (80&nbsp;mi northeast of Farwell) by driving off and slaughtering the Comanches' horses.

The Farwell brothers established the XIT on their new land, ultimately employing 800 cowboys, stringing over 6,000 miles of barbed wire, and hiring former Texas Rangers to defeat the hundreds of cattle rustlers operating across the state line in the New Mexico territory. Many researchers hold that the XIT ultimately failed because of that massive rustling operation, ultimately persuading stockholders to begin selling off the ranch to families who came to that part of the High Plains drawn by the cheap price of land. When the cow camp that would become Farwell was established is not documented, but when Parmer County was created in 1907 (previously part of Deaf Smith County to its north), the election was held for county seat in a contest among Farwell, [[Bovina, Texas|Bovina]], [[Parmerton, Texas|Parmerton]], and [[Friona, Texas|Friona]], all to Farwell's northeast, all which had started as cow camps, but had varying success thus far in attracting settlers who ran saloons, stores, stables, and other services for the cowboys. Parmerton was initially voted county seat that year, and a one-story courthouse was built there.<ref name="Barnett">{{cite book |last1=Barnett |first1=Lana Payne |title=Presenting the Texas Panhandle |date=1979 |publisher=Lan-Bea}}</ref><ref name="Nortex">{{cite book |last1=Parmer County Historical Society |title=A History of Parmer County |date=1974 |publisher=Nortex}}</ref>

The election was hotly contested by politicians in the other towns, so a new vote was scheduled. Cowboys, who were the largest demographic, lived in their saddles and sleeping bags most of the time, with no fixed address. A new regulation was established that each man would vote in the place where he did his laundry. Farwell, possessing the only laundry at that time, thus received all the cowboy votes, though Friona was, and remains, about four times the size of Farwell, so Farwell became county seat in the 1908 vote. The Farwell courthouse was erected quickly thereafter. When the decision was made to begin selling off the XIT to settlers, they would arrive in Farwell on the railroad, which had reached there in 1899, linking rail to the east with rail to the west of the Rockies Mountains via the track laid between Farwell and [[Belen, New Mexico]]. Families from across America arrived by train, stayed in the four-story Farwell Hotel, and toured the available homestead sites by touring cars.

Many of the families then traveled to Farwell and the rest of the region in covered wagons and established their homes in dugouts in the prairie soil (no stone or trees indigenous to the area were available for construction). Dry-land farming and herding were always risky, but families persevered year by year, often relying entirely on their small windmill pumping enough water for the home, a milk cow, some chickens, a few fruit trees, and vegetable gardens when crops and cattle withered during droughts and wind storms.

==Geography==
Farwell lies on the level plains of the [[Llano Estacado]] at {{coord|34|22|59|N|103|2|18|W|type:city}} (34.382919, –103.038339).<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2011-04-23|date=2011-02-12|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref> According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|0.8|sqmi|km2}}, all land.

It is located {{convert|10|mi|0}} east of [[Clovis, New Mexico]], {{convert|88|mi|0}} northwest of [[Lubbock, Texas]], and 95&nbsp;mi (152.888&nbsp;km) southwest of [[Amarillo, Texas]]. It lies at the junction of two branches of the [[BNSF Railway]] from Belen. One branch goes northeast toward [[Amarillo, Texas|Amarillo]] and the Midwest; the other southeast toward [[Lubbock, Texas|Lubbock]] and the Texas Gulf Coast.

For years, a dispute had been simmering over which state Farwell (and her sister city on the other side of the state line, Texico) is lawfully a part of: Texas or New Mexico. The straight north–south border between the two states was originally defined as the [[103rd meridian west|103rd meridian]], but the 1859 survey that was supposed to mark that boundary mistakenly set the border between 2.29 and 3.77 miles too far west of that line, making the current towns of [[Texline, Texas|Texline]], Farwell, [[Bledsoe, Texas|Bledsoe]], Bronco and a [[Glenrio, Texas|part of Glenrio]] appear to be within Texas. New Mexico's short border with Oklahoma, in contrast, was surveyed on the correct meridian. New Mexico's draft constitution in 1910 stated that the border is on the 103rd meridian as intended. The disputed strip, hundreds of miles long, includes parts of valuable [[oilfields]] of the [[Permian Basin (North America)|Permian Basin]]. A bill was passed in the [[New Mexico Senate]] to fund and file a lawsuit in the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] to recover the strip from Texas, but the bill did not become law. Today, land in the strip is included in Texas land surveys and all purposes is taxed and governed by the State of Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/1357432.html|title=Border War Brewing?|author=Daniel Gertson|access-date=2016-09-24|archive-date=April 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418162341/http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/1357432.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1960= 1009
|1970= 1185
|1980= 1354
|1990= 1373
|2000= 1364
|2010= 1363
|2020= 1425
|estref=<ref name="USCensusEst2019CenPopScriptOnlyDirtyFixDoNotUse">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.2019.html|date=May 24, 2020|title=Population and Housing Unit Estimates|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=May 27, 2020}}</ref>
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}

===2020 census===
{| class="wikitable"
|+'''Farwell racial composition'''<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=1600000US4825548&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2 |access-date=2022-05-19 |website=data.census.gov}}</ref><br /> (''NH = Non-Hispanic''){{efn|Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.<ref>https://www.census.gov/ {{nonspecific|date=August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=About the Hispanic Population and its Origin |url=https://www.census.gov/topics/population/hispanic-origin/about.html |website=www.census.gov |access-date=18 May 2022}}</ref>}}
!Race
!Number
!Percentage
|-
|[[Non-Hispanic or Latino whites|White]] (NH)
|748
|52.49%
|-
|[[Non-Hispanic or Latino African Americans|Black or African American]] (NH)
|9
|0.63%
|-
|[[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] or [[Alaska Native]] (NH)
|1
|0.07%
|-
|[[Asian Americans|Asian]] (NH)
|3
|0.21%
|-
|Some Other Race (NH)
|2
|0.14%
|-
|[[Multiracial Americans|Mixed/Multi-Racial]] (NH)
|8
|0.56%
|-
|[[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]]
|654
|45.89%
|-
|'''Total'''
|'''1,425'''
|
|}
As of the [[2020 United States census]], there were 1,425 people, 541 households, and 358 families residing in the city.

===2000 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, 1,364 people, 499 households, and 346 families were residing in the city. The [[population density]] was 1,669 people/sq mi (642/km{{sup|2}}). The 560 housing units averaged 684/sq mi (264/km{{sup|2}}). The [[Race (United States Census)|racial makeup]] of the city was 75.00% White, 0.44% African American, 0.51% Native American, 1.03% Asian, 20.82% from other races, and 2.20% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 31.96% of the population.

Of the 499 households, 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.9% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.5% were not families. About 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58, and the average family size was 3.18.

In the city, the age distribution was 27.9% under 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 19.9% who were 65 or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,808, and for a family was $34,676. Males had a median income of $27,448 versus $21,181 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $15,875. About 13.9% of families and 16.7% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 22.8% of those under age 18 and 13.7% of those age 65 or over.

==Education==
The City of Farwell is served by the [[Farwell Independent School District]].

<!-- hubris not encyclopedic The Farwell Lady Blue won their first Class 2A state championship in 2002, a 47-35 victory against [[Brock, TX|Brock]] in front of 8,870 fans at the [[Frank Erwin Center]] at the [[University of Texas at Austin]]. In 2001, the first year the Lady Blue had competed in Class 2A, the Lady Blue's inexperience in big games showed, as it lost a two-point semifinal match-up against [[Salado, Texas|Salado]]. In 2002, the Lady Blue survived its non-district schedule, finishing with a more-than-respectable 14-6 record. Farwell finished second in District 4-2A, losing only twice to seventh-ranked [[Hale Center, Texas|Hale Center]] by a combined six points. Although the girls' team had never traveled to Austin for the basketball tournament, the Farwell Steers (boys) advanced there in 1989. Farwell's girls' athletic teams were originally known as the Steerettes but now have the mascot Lady Blue after the school's official colors. The Lady Blue cross country team has made the trip to state three seasons in a row.
 -->

==Notable person==
* [[Charlie Phillips (singer)|Charlie Phillips]], singer, songwriter <ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hacker|first1=Bobby|title=Charlie "Sugartime" Phillips|journal=American Music Magazine|date=March 2001 |volume=126 |page=38}}</ref>
<!-- * [[Addie Peed Swearingen]], philanthropist -->
<!-- *** INSTRUCTIONS FOR NOTABLE PEOPLE SECTIONS ***
When you add a name in this section, it's YOUR responsibility to ensure all of the following for each person:
 1) Insert person into list sorted by last name (surname).
 2) Each person MUST meet [[Wikipedia:Bio]] requirements to ensure notability (see [[Wikipedia:Notability]]).
 3) Each person MUST meet [[Wikipedia:Verifiability]] requirements to verify their notability and prove they resided in the city.
 4) If the person has a Wikipedia article, then wikilink the persons name to the correct wikipedia article, otherwise add citation reference(s) to an online source to prove the above requirements (see [[Wikipedia:Citing sources]]).
*** END OF INSTRUCTIONS *** -->

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Obelisk commemorating Ozark Trail in Farwell, Texas.JPG|Obelisk commemorating Ozark Trail in Farwell, Texas
File:Farwell obelisk plaque.JPG|Plaque on Ozark Trail 
File:Farwell pioneer plaque.JPG|Monument honoring early pioneer in Farwell
File:Courthouse for Parmer Country, in Farwell, Texas.JPG|Parmer County Courthouse 
File:Farwell water towers.JPG|Two water towers in Farwell
File:Farwell, Texas name monument.JPG|Monument commemorating the Farwell brothers for whom the town is named, founders of the [[XIT Ranch]]
File:Spanish-language_concert_poster_in_Farwell,_Texas.jpg|Spanish poster in Farwell, evidence of growing Spanish-speaking population
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{notelist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Farwell, Texas}}
* [http://www.co.parmer.tx.us/ Parmer County]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120512103230/http://www.farwellschools.org/ Farwell school district]
* [https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hjf02 Farwell in the Handbook of Texas]

{{Parmer County, Texas}}
{{Texas}}
{{Texas county seats}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Cities in Texas]]
[[Category:Cities in Parmer County, Texas]]
[[Category:County seats in Texas]]