Panhandle (earlier known as Carson City and Panhandle City) was platted in 1888 as the terminus of the Southern Kansas Railway, but it was not incorporated until 1909. It lost business to Amarillo, thirty miles west, between these dates, when the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway bypassed Panhandle in favor of Amarillo. But the town became an important transfer and supply point for the oil industry during the 1920s. Today Panhandle represents the omnipresence of the Santa Fe system in the region’s economy. The Santa Fe discontinued passenger service in 1971, and today most of its stations are deserted. The former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe station (1928; 1 Main Street) has been adapted for use as the city hall. It features a heavily bracketed canopy and stepped parapet consistent with the line’s Mission-style identity.
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