Potter

Formed August 21, 1876 (215^th county)

Potter County (121,073), Amarillo (190,695)

The terra cotta and concrete Modern skyscraper courthouse, located at Fillmore and 6^th streets, was built in 1986.  Fillmore Street is United States Highway 87 as it passes through the city.  Hucker & Parge and Ward-Brown Associates combined on the building designs.  Amarillo has had all four courthouses (1880s, 1906, 1932, and 1986) since the August 21, 1876 organization of Potter County.  The 1932 courthouse continues to house county offices.  The county was cut from Bexar County as the 215^th county.  Potter County gets its name from Robert Potter who served as the Secretary of the Navy in the Texas Republic.  Amarillo is Spanish for “yellow” and the city got its name from the nearby creek. 

Potter County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  One District Court Judge serves Potter, Armstrong, and Randall counties, Two District Court Judges serve Potter and Randall counties, and Two District Court Judges and Three County Court Judges serve Potter County.  The county is situated in the northern part of the Texas panhandle.  Lubbock, Texas is south of the county.  The Canadian River crosses the northern part of the county from west to east.  The county center is 19 miles Northwest of Amarillo nearer Bishop Hills.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Moore, Hutchinson, Carson, Armstrong, Randall, Deaf Smith, Oldham, and Hartley counties. 

The area of the county is 922 square miles.  It is 124 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 33 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 131.32 persons per square mile making it 35 out of 254 in the state.  Potter County has 87.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 27 originates in Potter County and heads south into Randall County.  Interstate Highway 40 crosses east to west from Carson County into Oldham County.  United States Highway 60 enters from Carson County on the east, joins Interstate Highway 27, and exits into Randall County.  United States Highway 87 enters from Moore County (north), joins Interstate Highway 27 and United States Highway 60, and goes south to Randall County.  United States Highway 287 comes in jointly with United States Highway 87 from Moore County on the north, splits and joins Interstate Highway 40 at Amarillo, and goes into Carson County.  The county is a square and Amarillo lies on the extreme southern border.  Amarillo City limits extend from Potter County southward into Randall County.  Amarillo is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 87.1% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced AM-A-RIL-LOE.  This county is in the Amarillo Metropolitan Statistical Area.