Amherst, Texas
| Amherst, Texas | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Grain elevators of Amherst
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 Amherst
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| Coordinates: 34°00′37″N 102°24′56″W / 34.01028°N 102.41556°WCoordinates: 34°00′37″N 102°24′56″W / 34.01028°N 102.41556°W | |
| Country |
 United States
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| State |
 Texas
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| County | Lamb |
| Region | Llano Estacado |
| Established | 1923 |
| Elevation | 1,113 m (3,652 ft) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 721 |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| ZIP code | 79312 |
| Area code | 806 |
| Website | Handbook of Texas |
Amherst is a city in Lamb County, Texas, United States. The population was 721 at the 2010 census.
Amherst, on U.S. Route 84 and the BNSF Railway in west central Lamb County, began in 1913 as a Pecos and Northern Texas Railway station for William E. Halsell's Mashed O Ranch. A townsite was platted a mile from the Santa Fe depot in 1923 and named for Amherst College by a railroad official. The post office opened in 1924. By 1930 thirty-five businesses and 964 people constituted a lively trade center, and amenities included a newspaper, the Amherst Argus. For many years the Amherst Hotel, the town's first permanent building, was the most popular stopping place between Clovis, New Mexico and Lubbock, Texas. The population in Amherst was 749 in 1940, when the first co-op hospital in Texas was built there. Incorporation came in 1970, when the population was 825. In 1980 the population was 971, and businesses included five cotton gins and two grain elevators. Sod House Spring Monument, commemorating the first cow camp in the area, is located 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Amherst, and Plant X, one of Southwestern Public Service's largest generating plants, is nine miles north.
As of the census of 2000, there were 791 people, 269 households, and 210 families residing in the city. The population density was 951.4 people per square mile (368.0/km²). There were 341 housing units at an average density of 410.2 per square mile (158.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 68.90% White, 9.36% African American, 0.25% Native American, 21.11% from other races, and 0.38% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 39.95% of the population.
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