1. Lubbock County Judge Tom Head brought everything to a “head” in 2012, making headlines about how a civil war would happen and the United Nations would invade the Lone Star State if President Obama was reelected. So far, so good?
2. Computer hacking is big in Lubbock, believe it or not, hence why the infamous hacker and culture jamming group called the “Cult of the Dead Cow” began right here in 1984.
3. Lubbock’s known for UFOs. Eat your heart out, Roswell, New Mexico. Why? Do the research and learn about the “Lubbock Lights,” the infamous sightings of strange “lights” in the sky, categorizing UFOs. Photographs were actually presented in newspapers and Life Magazine. Even the United States Air Force did a study on the Lubbock Lights.
4. As many Lubbock residents will tell you, they love the one and only Buddy Holly, rock-and-roll legend. He was born in Lubbock, you know? So they pay homage to him with a statue, a museum, and even a fall festival called “Bud Fest.”
5. John Wayne certainly lives eternally in Lubbock, as Lubbock Christian University holds a piece of a boulder sculpted to look like his face in its library. The boulder actually came from Malibu, CA, back in 1979 when an Australian immigrant got ahold of it, paid engineers $100 to keep a chunk of it, and carved Wayne’s face into it. The art piece was then donated to the University back in 1991.
6. Texas Tech students love tortillas. Maybe too much. After all, when spectators for Texas Tech football want to protest during losing games, throwing mass pieces of tortillas all over the place whenever there was a 15-yard penalty drawn was the norm. That action, though, was banned. Every now and then, though, you might see a spectator or student tossing a tortilla when the opposing team scores a touchdown.
7. Texas pride really does shine in Lubbock—the city was named after a former Texas Ranger and Confederate officer, Thomas S. Lubbock.
8. Did you know that it’s illegal to drive within an arm’s length of alcohol in Lubbock – even when the alcohol is in someone else’s bloodstream? That’s one specific law there….
9. Austin might have the renowned Stubb’s Barbecue joint today, but did you know the restaurant was originally located right in Lubbock?
10. Those “Saddle Tramps” of Texas Tech love to wrap the Will Rogers & Soapsuds statue on campus with red crepe paper before every home football game.
11. It’s a fact that Texas Tech’s President Clifford B. Jones back in 1939, along with the Engineering Society President Dosh McCreary, revealed their very own Blarney Stone monument in front of the old Electrical Engineering Building. It was said that the actual stone of the monument actually did come from the original Blarney Castle of 1659 over in Ireland. No one knows how, though…
12. Strangely enough, the infamous Lubbock F5 Tornado of 1970, while causing $125MM worth of damage to the city, couldn’t bring down the downtown’s pride and joy, the Metro Tower (back then, known as the Great Plains Life Building). It’s widely believed that this is the tallest building ever to survive such a tornado.
13. For some reason, Lubbock County thought it necessary to “switch things up” when it came to alcohol. Before May 9th of 2009, retail grocery stores could “package” sales of bottles of liquor just fine whereas country clubs and the like could only sell alcohol “by the drink.” Makes sense. A law, though, was passed on that date, stating that inside the city limits, restaurants and bars could handle “package” sales of bottles of liquor and beer, but liquor stores couldn’t. Hence if you want to save money on booze, go to a bar, obviously.
14. Independence Day is a big deal to Lubbock people. How so? Witness the largest free festival in the entire state, the 4th on Broadway festival.
15. This is just bizarre: but the very first church meeting in the city was actually not held at a church. Back in 1890, it was held at the first retail establishment of the city: the “Singer’s Store.”
16. You’ll never see a larger corn maze. The “Maize,” cleverly titled, actually exists right in At’l Do Farms. The cornfield’s actually 12 acres large.
17. You won’t be lacking cotton reserves in Lubbock, it being the largest contiguous cotton-growing region in the entire world.
18. City planners really had a problem with the letter “Z”. No one knows why. When they planned the layout of the town, the north-south avenues ran from A to Y. The college town section of the city’s “Z” avenue was actually called “University Avenue” whereas the outer limits of the town utilized the name “Slide Road” in place of the letter “Z”. Go figure.
19. Lubbock’s about the only place where you can go to the “library” and drink booze to your heart’s content. It’s called the “Library Bar,” and it’s located right in the Depot District.
20. Lubbock’s actually a pretty good place to start a small business as an entrepreneur. CNNMoney.com says so, ranking the city as the 12th best town based on low commercial rent, central location, and collaborative city government.
21. Just in case you didn’t know (well, you don’t know if you’re reading this)…. But Texas A&M is the sworn enemy of Texas Tech University.
22. It’s one of the strangest structures ever designed by the human mind. Seriously. Designed by architect and sculptor Robert Bruno, the “Steel House” simply looks like a giant “pig” made of 110 tons worth of steel.
23. You might find many Lubbock residents calling those torrential downpours of rain “toad chokers.” Because most of Texas is basically flat, you can imagine all that rain causing flash flooding, hence “choking” all the toads and closing roads.
24. Texas Tech has a waterpark. In 2009 the college opened up a massive outdoor aquatics center with a slide, lazy river, diving board, outdoor pool, 20-person Jacuzzi, water volleyball and basketball, and a “bubble couch” aquatic bench with massage jets.
25. Lubbock’s South Plains Mall has the largest acreage of any mall in the state. The entire floor plan is also enclosed.
26. Lubbock is home to the Potbelly, a local diner that puts Subway and Jimmy John’s to shame with their interesting antics, like unusual marketing posts on Facebook and Twitter and their participation in the 4th on Broadway parade.
27. Lubbock, Texas, is the hub for the economy, education, and health care in the region. That’s why Lubbock’s often referred to as the “Hub City.”
28. Strangely enough, the city didn’t originally hold the name of Lubbock. Back in 1884, the region had only a federal post office and some settlers. The post office was named “Lubbock” first before the town was actually founded.
29. The Lubbock Lake Landmark, part of the Museum of Texas Tech University, has been the site of archaeological discoveries proving the existence of humans as far back as 12K years.
30. Only here in Lubbock, Texas, will you find an actual established “town” of prairie dogs. It is, in fact, called the “Prairie Dog Town,” and it’s found right in Mackenzie Park. You can even feed the little critters if you want.
31. Oddly enough, Lubbock’s home to swarms of “burrowing owls.” These are owls often ‘hopping’ all over the flatlands and ‘burrowing’ in the ground. It’s possible they can fly, but who knows….
32. Lubbock knows cowboys probably better than any other city in Texas thanks to the annual National Cowboy Symposium and Celebration, featuring art, music, poetry, essays, a horse parade, and a chuckwagon cook-off to boot.
33. Sports is probably even bigger in town given the fact that Texas Tech’s own Red Raiders have won 11 conference titles, played in 31 bowl games, winning five of the last seven, since 1925. Basketball’s not too bad either with the university’s team playing at the NCAA tournament a staggering 14 times and advancing to the Sweet 16 thrice with notorious coach Bob Knight helming the victories with his characteristic tenacity.
34. Mackenzie Park is very much the heart of family get-togethers along with some history to boot. The park was the site for the great Battle of Yellow House Canyon during the Buffalo Hunters’ War.
35. Coronado just might’ve made many residents go crazy mad with gold fever, the region in Lubbock having a history as being named “Llano Estacado” back in 1540 when the infamous Spanish explorer sought out to discover El Dorado, the legendary “City of Gold.”
36. Students over in Texas Tech love their trees. They love them so much that they have an “Arbor Day,” hosted by the Saddle Tramps, where the entire body and faculty gathers foliage, planning a staggering 20K trees just to beautify the campus.
37. That “Double T” logo of Texas Tech has some strange superstitions, having been imprinted on an infamous bench donated by the class of 1931. To this day, freshmen aren’t allowed to sit on it. Furthermore, the logo was also utilized as a neon sign back in 1938 on the east side of Jones AT&T Stadium. It was at the time considered the largest neon sign ever in existence.
38. Colleges such as Texas Tech may be the cornerstone of this Texas town, but did you know that Lubbock High School happens to have the rating as one of the top schools in the U.S. for three years in a row thanks to its enterprising International Baccalaureate program?
39. World War II pilots will live on for an eternity (figuratively) in Lubbock’s own Silent Wings Museum.
What’s your favorite fun fact about Lubbock? Tell us in the comments below!
