Hartley County

Hartley County, in the northwestern part of the Panhandle, is bordered on the west by New Mexico, on the north by Dallam County, on the east by Moore County, and on the south by Oldham County. The county seat, Channing, is about fifty miles northwest of Amarillo and about thirty miles south of Dalhart, which straddles the Hartley-Dallam county line. The center point of the county is at 35°50' north latitude and 102°35' west longitude. The county was named for Rufus K. and Oliver C. Hartley. It comprises 1,488 square miles of level to rolling grasslands. The terrain is marked by jagged, dry arroyos and by the intermittent Punta de Agua and Rita Blanca creeks, which join in Hartley County and drain into the Canadian River in Oldham County. The elevation ranges between 3,400 and 4,200 feet above sea level. The soils in the county vary from deep sandy loam to loose sand. Many varieties of grasses and other plants provide plentiful grazing for the county's cattle. In 1938 a flood-control dam was begun three miles south of Dalhart on Rita Blanca Creek. By 1941 the impoundment, named Rita Blanca Lake, had filled with water. Large natural-gas formations discovered in the late 1930s underlie parts of the county and bolster the economy. The annual rainfall averages eighteen inches, and the temperature ranges from an average high of 92° F in July to an average low of 20° in January. The growing season averages 180 days per year.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.