{"id":7790,"date":"2023-09-11T19:17:53","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T19:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=7790"},"modified":"2026-08-14T22:20:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T22:20:40","slug":"armstrong-county-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/armstrong-county-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Armstrong County, Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Armstrong County is a county in Texas, United States, in the Texas Panhandle just east of Amarillo. It had a population of 1,848 at the 2020 census and covers 914 square miles (2,368 km2), of which 4.7 square miles (12 km2) is water, centred near 34&deg;58&prime;N 101&deg;21&prime;W.<\/p>\n<p>Claude is the county seat, and its postal code is 79019. The county has one incorporated city, one census-designated place, and five unincorporated communities. Armstrong County sits in the Central time zone and carries FIPS code 48011.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Armstrong County<\/h2>\n<p>Armstrong County has seven named places: one incorporated city (Claude, the county seat), one census-designated place (Washburn), and five unincorporated communities. Texas has no civil townships, so the table below omits that column.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Claude<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>79019<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Washburn<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Fairview<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Goodnight<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Malden<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Paloduro<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Wayside<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>79094<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>79019 &mdash; Claude (also serves Fairview, Goodnight, Malden and Paloduro)<\/li>\n<li>79094 &mdash; Wayside<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Washburn and the county&#8217;s smaller unincorporated communities share the Claude ZIP for mail delivery rather than carrying one of their own.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Armstrong County sits on the High Plains of the Texas Panhandle, where the Caprock Escarpment drops toward the Rolling Plains. The Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River crosses the county, and its canyon carves the dramatic breaks that continue west into Palo Duro Canyon in neighboring Randall County. Ranchland covers most of the county, with cotton and wheat farmed on the flatter tableland above the canyon rim.<\/p>\n<p>Armstrong County borders Carson County to the north, Gray County to the northeast, Donley County to the east, Briscoe County to the south, Swisher County to the southwest, Randall County to the west, and Potter County to the northwest. Live links: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/carson-county\/\">Carson County<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/gray-county-texas\/\">Gray County<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/donley-county\/\">Donley County<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/briscoe-county\/\">Briscoe County<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/swisher-county\/\">Swisher County<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/randall-county\/\">Randall County<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/potter-county-texas\/\">Potter County<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Armstrong County had 1,848 residents at the 2020 census, spread across a land area of 909 square miles &mdash; about 2 people per square mile, one of the lowest densities in the Panhandle. Claude and Washburn are the county&#8217;s two largest communities. Median household income in the county has historically run below the Texas median of $75,780, consistent with a small population anchored in ranching and dryland farming rather than higher-wage industry.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Ranching has dominated the county&#8217;s economy since the 1870s; ranches occupied roughly two-thirds of the county&#8217;s land as of the mid-2000s. Cotton and wheat are the leading row crops on the tableland above the canyon breaks, and grain elevators along the rail line through Claude still anchor the local farm economy. Claude&#8217;s location on U.S. Highway 287 puts it within commuting distance of Amarillo, and a share of county residents work in the Amarillo metro area rather than in the county itself. Claude Independent School District serves the county, and the county courthouse in Claude remains the largest public employer within Armstrong County itself.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>The Texas Legislature created Armstrong County in 1876 out of the Bexar Land District, and it was formally organized in 1890 with Claude as its seat. The county&#8217;s name honors one of several pioneer Armstrong families associated with early Panhandle settlement. Rancher Charles Goodnight established operations in the county in 1876, running cattle on what became part of the JA Ranch, and the unincorporated community of Goodnight still carries his name. The 1963 film &#8220;Hud,&#8221; starring Paul Newman, was partly filmed around Claude and Goodnight, and the county has traded on that connection in local heritage tourism ever since.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>U.S. Highway 287 runs diagonally through the county and is the main route to Amarillo; State Highway 207 crosses it near Claude.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Amarillo &mdash; 25 miles west<\/li>\n<li>Clarendon (Donley County) &mdash; 25 miles east<\/li>\n<li>Pampa (Gray County) &mdash; 45 miles northeast<\/li>\n<li>Canyon (Randall County) &mdash; 30 miles west<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport is the nearest commercial airport.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Armstrong County, Texas?<\/strong><br \/>It is in the Texas Panhandle, directly east of Amarillo, where the High Plains break into the Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River canyon country.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Armstrong County?<\/strong><br \/>1,848 people, at the 2020 census.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Armstrong County?<\/strong><br \/>914 square miles (2,368 km2), of which 4.7 square miles is water.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Armstrong County?<\/strong><br \/>Claude is the county seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns are in Armstrong County?<\/strong><br \/>One incorporated city (Claude), one census-designated place (Washburn), and five unincorporated communities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes are in Armstrong County?<\/strong><br \/>79019 (Claude) and 79094 (Wayside); other communities use the Claude ZIP.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is Palo Duro Canyon in Armstrong County?<\/strong><br \/>Most of Palo Duro Canyon State Park lies in neighboring Randall County, but the same canyon system, carved by the Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River, extends into western Armstrong County.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/texas\/\">Towns and villages in Texas<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Armstrong County is a county in Texas, United States, in the Texas Panhandle just east of Amarillo. It had a population of 1,848 at the 2020 census and covers 914 square miles (2,368 km2), of which 4.7 square miles (12 km2) is water, centred near 34&deg;58&prime;N 101&deg;21&prime;W. Claude is the county seat, and its postal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Armstrong County, Texas","_seopress_titles_desc":"Armstrong County, Texas: population, ZIP codes 79019 & 79094, county seat Claude, towns, geography and history in the Texas Panhandle.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-7790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-texas","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7790"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9739,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7790\/revisions\/9739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}