Lamb County

Lamb County is on the southern edge of the Panhandle, in the South Plains portion of the state, bordered on the east by Hale County, on the south by Hockley County, on the west by Bailey County, and on the north by Castro and Parmer counties. The center of the county is located at 34°02' north latitude and 102°20' west longitude. The entire county is atop the high plains. Littlefield, the county seat, is in the southern part of the county on U.S. Highway 84, forty miles northwest of Lubbock. The county was named for George A. Lamb. It occupies 1,022 square miles of level plains dotted with playas and a few low hills. Soils range from sandy to brown and support a variety of agricultural crops, including grain sorghum, cotton, corn, wheat, and soybeans. A relatively small amount of oil production occurs in the southern part of the county. The major physical features of the county are the dry bed of the North Fork of the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River, also known as Blackwater Draw, and a range of low-lying sand hills roughly following the course of Blackwater Draw as it meanders southeast across the northern section of the county. Two other tributaries of the Brazos, Running Water Creek and Yellow House River, also traverse the county. Four small lakes are found in the western half of the county: Soda Lake in the northwest and Bull Lake, Illusion Lake, and Yellow Lake in the southwest. Elevations in Lamb County range from 3,400 to 3,800 feet above sea level. Annual precipitation averages 18.04 inches per year, and the growing season lasts 194 days. Temperatures range between an average minimum temperature of 24° F in January and an average maximum of 93° in July.

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.