The cspan city tour is exploring the american story. With support from our this weekend, we traveled to amarillo,texas. Coming up in the next hour, weve learned about the citys Literary History including georgia okeefe and her time in the texas panhandle. Then in 10 minutes, we take a ride along route 66 to see its historic landmarks. In about 40 minutes, the history of africanamericans in amarillo. We begin our special feature with the citys mayor. Amarillo is in the center of the texas panhandle. We kind of affectionately call ourselves the capital city of the texas panhandle. We are approaching 2000 people. I think in this next senses, we will cross the 20,000 mark. Thats a mile marker but its really one of the most unique things about amarillo. I really think our superpower here in the city of amarillo is we think regionally. While we do have geographic boundaries that define how many people live inside our city, we truly dont think that way. We think regionally. We think these committees belong to us and they are our city. Right now we are standing in the historic santa fe depot. Its significant because when you think about building the entire city, the materials came to this depot. They arrived right here. Our city has grown and we started as a farming agricultural town but now we are in urban center for the texas panhandle. None of that could have happened without those locations being and even our materials to live everyday life came right here. It is vacant. Were not using it today for a train station. But we are still a significant hub. Its important in the coasttocoast travel of marketing goods. We are an important part of that. The reason it was such a key point is yes the cattle industry. We traded cattle back and forth through kansas city. But also just our our cultural commodities. Wheat, cotton, corn. We ship to those all over the nation. Its such a rule area that was so difficult to get to. It really expanded the food supply for the nation and it was a huge economic boost to our local Rural Economy to have the railroad here. Whether that was the 1890s or even the 1850s. The railroad has been an important part of the economy. I think one of our largest problems is that we are isolated. From a geographic point of view, we are the spot everyone comes to. So its hard for us to change sometimes because we get set in our ways. We dont have a lot of driving forces that force us to change because we are isolated. Continuing to have a mindset that attach to and looks for change. Looks renovation. Sometimes we struggle with that. But the flipside of that. Taking what could be a weakness and making it into a strength, we are pioneers. We like to solve our problems. We typically dont look to a government or somebody else to help us do that. We put our hands and work harder and push harder until we figure out a solution on our own and i love that spirit in our community. In amarillo, we are very interested in local politics, statewide and national politics. Everyone is interested in the election coming up in november 2020. I think it has a lot of variance and its voting record. So it will be interesting to see whether we draw candidates to come talk to us. Our voting record is traditionally very conservative. We are known as the most conservative district in the nation. District 13. So you look at of our voting record. We vote republican more than any other district in the country. It makes us an interesting on the conversation point. The assumptions that go along with that doesnt allow candidates to come here and campaign. Its a Great American city. We are poised right now at a little bit of a renaissance. Because we are experiencing positive momentum. I think theres going to be a curiosity. About amarillo. As people watch us move up through this renaissance. Through arts and culture. Through solving problems. Working together. I think it will be an exciting 20 years for amarillo. Twice a month, cspan city tours takes booktv and American History tv on the road. To explore the literary life of a selected city. Working with cable partners, we visit various sites as we interview local historians, and leaders. You can see our past Stores Online by going to booktv. Org and selecting cspan city store at the top of the page or by visiting cspan. Org cities tour. For behindthescenes images and video from our visits, the handle is cspan cities. Good evening and welcome to hudson institutes policy center. Id like to welcome our audience and our pennsylvania headquarters. And our cspan audience to our first ever podcast taping that is both lives and marks the Second Season of the realignment hosted by hudson