Local leaders and rural revitalization experts say Texas’ smallest towns can survive — despite a shift to urban and suburban counties — but it will take investments.
Cornudas, with a population of less than 20, hosts a chili cook-off hoping to draw more than 1,000 visitors on Sept. 28. Small towns like Cornudas have struggled to grow along with the state's population.— a weekly dispatch about the people, places and policies defining Texas, produced by Texas Tribune journalists living in communities across the state.
The High Plains and West Texas regions are home to billion-dollar industries with agriculture and energy production — lawmakers have long boasted it’s where the nation gets its food, fuel and fiber. However, the illustrious industries are held together by people living in rural Texas, who are now moving to anchor cities like Lubbock and Amarillo, the resource-rich hubs in the region that can provide the jobs, housing and opportunities that a small town can’t.
“Rural Texas is hard,” Perry said. “The weather is pretty intense, the economy and opportunities for kids to stay are limited. Those that are there are partly by choice, but most are there because they were born and raised there, and don’t have any other real options to move out.”Just off a winding road in the middle of open, isolated prairie land is King County, about 108 miles east of Lubbock.
“If something happens to the school, that’s probably where we lose some population,” Daniel said. “As long as the doors stay open, I think we’re good.” Sharp said there’s a romanticism with people wanting to live in the country and send their kids to small schools where everyone knows everyone. Only one of those fantasies for families can come true in Guthrie, and it’s enrolling their children in the school system there. There are no houses for people to rent or own.
When those opportunities are identified, it can change the future of a community. Lubbock avoided the curse that struck its neighboring towns. Fortenberry, the chairwoman for Lubbock’s Historical Commission, said by 1930, eight different railroads ran through Lubbock. This created the hub city status that Lubbock still has to this day, as it has two major hospital systems, is surrounded by the agriculture industry, and is home to Texas Tech University.
“Kids don’t go somewhere for a job anymore, they go somewhere they want to live,” Moody said. “They’ll find a job.” Right in the middle of that economic boom is Celina, the fastest-growing city in the U.S. Forty miles north of Dallas, Celina’s population was just 6,000 people in 2010. As of July 2023, it’s estimated to be more than 43,000. Census data estimates Celina’s populationThe city has a deep history in the agriculture industry, mainly with corn and cotton. The industry still exists in the area, with farms and ranches around despite urban sprawl.
“There’s no reason we can’t have a kitschy brand like the City of Mosaics and have something that draws in tourists to our town,” said Moody, who lives in Levelland. “Something that shows we care.” Waddell prides herself on being there for the girls and women in the small town of 1,200. They might need an outfit for a wedding or a gift for a special occasion, and Waddell’s store helps them avoid a drive to Amarillo.
“We’re a thriving little community,” Minkley said. “I don’t know that we need a major industry here.”
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