Wildorado, TX

Welcome to Wildorado

History of Wildorado

The Wildorado community was founded about 1900 when it was marked as a planned stop on the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Raildroad survey.A post office was granted in 1904. A bank, hotel, and newspaper soon followed. In 1915, Wildorado was a thriving community with a population of 100. Wildorado had served as a camp site on the trail from Canyon City to Tascosa. Wildorado was named for nearby Wildorado Creek. Here, travelers could rest, shoe their horses and repair their wagons as the creek provided good water and plenty of wood. When the railroad first came to Wildorado, a 'Y' was built at the end of the track to allow the train to turn around and go back to Amarillo until the track was later laid west to Tucumcari, NM. In the late twenties and thirties, Wildorado was tortured by sandstorms and droughts.

The highway through Wildorado had gone from the Ozark Trail to Will Rogers Highway to Route 66, and now Interstate 40. Traffic increased on Route 66 and by the early 1960's a new super highway was needed. The new interstate required a 300 foot right-of-way through Wildorado's Main Street making it necessary for businesses on the south side of Rt. 66 to be destroyed. These businesses included: Wildorado Bank, Rodeo Café, Pop Well’s Station & Café, Dee McDade’s Texaco, Davis Mercantile/Post Office, A.F. Moore’s 66 Dealership, and Tapscott Mobil Station.

Agriculture has been and continues to be the major industry for Wildorado and Oldham County. This picture depicts wheat stockpiled on the ground during the harvest of 1929 near the grain elevator built by farmers in 1914. This elevator still stands on the north side of I-40. The old Depot in the background has been moved and is one block north of I-40 on private property.

As you drive through Oldham County, you will see farms, ranches, cattle grazing, crops, elevators and feedlots. Quality Cattle Feeders, a 20,000 head feedyard, is located just east of Wildorado on I-40.

Wildorado Links

Wikipedia Link

Wildorado ISD

Texas Escapes

TSHA Handbook Online