On April 1887, J.T. Berry created a site for a town after he chose a well-watered section along the way of Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad, which had begun buildling across the Texas Panhandle. Berry and Colorado City, Texas merchants wanted to make their new town site the region's main trading center. On August 30, 1887, Berry's town site won the county seat election and was established in Potter County. Availability of the railroad and freight service, after the county seat election, made the town a fast growing cattle marketing center.
The settlement itself was originally named Oneida, but was later changed to Amarillo. The name 'Amarillo' (Yellow in Spanish) is assumed to have come from the yellow wildflowers that were common during the spring and summer, or the nearby Amarillo Lake and Amarillo Creek, that were also named for the yellow soil along their banks and shores.
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