Welcome to The Dirt. In every issue, our anonymous writer will give you the dirt on your burning questions about the Amarillo area. Got something you’re just dying to know? Drop us a line at info@brickandelm.com, and our intrepid writer will dig up the answer.
What’s up with that building shaped like a barrel on Plains Boulevard?
What a great question to accompany our burger feature! The beloved Beef Burger Barrel is not only home to an active restaurant but an eye-catching piece of local history. It was originally an A&W Root Beer barrel constructed around 1937, by a company that sculpted and delivered highly themed custom buildings for businesses across the country.
Architecture has gotten a lot less whimsical since then, leaving the barrel as a standalone relic of a more entertaining time for neighborhood aesthetics. Back in 1981, an architectural survey suggested the barrel’s age and design may one day qualify it for a proper historical marker. (We’re still waiting.)
Why hasn’t anything happened yet with the historic Liberty Theater on Fourth Avenue? Why isn’t there a landmark, historical marker or renovations?
The Liberty Theater at 317 SE Fourth Ave. stands among the lesser-known and technically unofficial historic landmarks in downtown Amarillo. In 1921, Russian Jewish immigrants opened the theater as the first in town to sell tickets to Black and Hispanic residents.
While the theater segregated audiences between the main floor and balcony seating, the Liberty remained one of the only local theaters to allow nonwhite customers until its closure in 1957. Today, it remains a reminder of local Black history, a stepping stone on the long road toward building a city that could be a better home to everyone.
Today, it’s owned by the City of Amarillo. With this community significance, the Liberty is an obvious contender for a historical marker. There might be a few reasons why this hasn’t happened: The building was deemed structurally sound in 2015, when the city considered making it into a new performance center, but its roof has since collapsed. Not having been consistently maintained or renovated since it was abandoned in 1957, reworking the building could be a lot more expensive than the city initially hoped more than a decade ago.
It likely qualifies for either a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark or State Antiquities Landmark designation, but neither the city nor the Potter County Historical Commission have submitted an application. However, that might change with enough public interest or solid plans for renovations.
