As you drive into our little town, you pass  a sign that reads "Welcome to Quitaque,  "kitty quay".  You will find other folks that pronounce it "kit-ta-kway".  But no matter how you pronounce it, you are coming into our small town of 432. 

I was born in Quitaque and recently moved back as have several of my classmates.  I moved back to not only escape the large city traffic, crime and stress, but because of all the traits our Texas rural communities still have.  I know my neighbors as well as the town officials and don't worry about locking the car or house every time I go out.  Don't get me wrong, we have our problems like everyone else -- but not as many.

However  you came to find out about Quitaque, and we hope you find our Web Site "user friendly".

We are located on Texas Highway 86 just 45 miles east of Tulia, Tx which is on Interstate 27 running between Amarillo and Lubbock.  (click on maps/events above)

I will walk you back into the history of Quitaque by starting today, and move back to the days of the Comanchero & Charles Goodnight.

Today

Our rural town has two restaurants, bed &  baths, grocery store, bank, hardware, churches, newspaper, mechanic shops,  and several other businesses. (click visit us tab above)  You will see many vacant buildings in the downtown area that the local citizens, being proud of our community, have been keeping up. We have just completed a new 6000 square foot community building and have plans for new streets and sidewalks in 2007, by the Texas Department of Transportation.

 We have Caprock Canyon State Park, which will be building a new 1.8 million dollar visitors center in 2007.  We have the Caprock Canyon Trailway Park going through our community. For a look at the parks (click General Info/Links above). 

1950's

Quitaque had 35 plus businesses, which included not only those above but new cars sales, several major brand gasoline stations, laundry mat, lumber yard, furniture stores, dry good stores, 5 & 10 cent store, cleaners, theaters, boot & shoe repair, three grocery stores, and many more businesses.  We had all the small town activities, because you just did not drive sixty to one hundred miles to shop and spend your money.  We had parades, special matinees on Saturday (at our in town theater).  Our drive in theater had speakers that fit on your windows, and it had a great concession stand.  We relied on the small farmers and their crops as well as the ranchers in the surrounding area for our major source of income.

Early History

The first settler in the area was the Comanchero trader José Piedad Tafoya, who operated a trading post on the site from 1865 to 1867, trading dry goods and ammunition to the Comanches for rustled livestock.

In 1877 George Baker drove a herd of about 2,000 cattle to the Quitaque area, where he headquartered the Lazy F Ranch. Charles Goodnight bought the Lazy F in 1880 and introduced the name Quitaque, which he believed was the Indian word for "end of the trail." According to another legend the name was derived from two buttes in the area that resembled piles of horse manure, the real meaning of the Indian word. Another story is that the name was taken from the Quitaca Indians, whose name was translated by white settlers as "whatever one steals."

The Quitaque Ranch covered parts of Briscoe, Floyd, and Hall counties. In 1882 a post office was established at ranch headquarters on Quitaque Creek in what is now Floyd County. By 1890 the town reported forty residents. When Briscoe County was organized in 1892 the post office was moved to the current location of Quitaque, and the town site was surveyed and platted. Settlers had moved into the area by 1890. In 1891 A. R. Jago built a store there and the first cotton crop was harvested. A school was opened southwest of Quitaque in 1894 and moved to the town site in 1902. In 1907 the Twilla Hotel opened. By 1914 the town reported seventy-five residents, a bank, and three general stores. In the 1920s Amos Persons, president of the First National Bank of Quitaque, succeeded in getting the Fort Worth and Denver South Plains Railway branch line routed through the town. In 1927 Quitaque was incorporated with P. P. Rumph as mayor, and on November 20, 1928, the first train arrived. For more information on Quitaque, (click General Info/Links above).