Home Sweet Home!!

Bags are packed and we'll be on our way in 8 hours!! I'm so excited to spend the weekend with my family and to see some old friends!! We might visit a Taco Villa to while we're there!!

See you all in the morning!!

==History==
The county of Lubbock was founded in [[1876]], named after [[Thomas Saltus Lubbock]], a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] colonel and founder of the Texas Rangers, but the town of Lubbock was not founded until [[1890]], when it was formed from a unique merger arrangement between two smaller towns, "Old Lubbock" and Monterey. The terms of the compromise included keeping the Lubbock name but the Monterey townsite, so the previous Old Lubbock residents relocated South to the Monterey location, including putting Old Lubbock's Nicolette Hotel on rollers and pulling it across a canyon to its new home. (Monterey would later become the name of one of Lubbock's high schools.)

In [[1891]] Lubbock became the county seat and in [[1909]] was reincorporated as a city.

Texas Technological College was founded in [[1923]], later renamed [[Texas Tech University]]. Its medical school, the [[Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center]], was added in [[1970]].

In August [[1951]], a v-shaped formation of lights was seen over the city. The "[[Lubbock Lights]]" series of sightings received national publicity and is regarded as one of the first great [[UFO]] cases. The sightings were considered credible because they were witnessed by several respected science professors at Texas Technological College and were photographed by a Texas Tech student. The photograph was reprinted nationwide in newspapers and in [[LIFE]] magazine. [[Project Blue Book]], the US Air Force's official study of the UFO mystery, did an extensive investigation of the Lubbock Lights. They concluded that the photographs were not a hoax and showed genuine objects. However, they did dismiss the UFOs themselves as being either "night-flying moths" or a type of bird called a [[plover]]. The Air Force argued that the underside of the plovers or moths was reflected in the glow of Lubbock's new street lights at night. However, other researchers have disputed these explanations, and for many the "Lubbock Lights" remain a mystery.

[[Lubbock Christian University]] was founded in [[1957]].

On [[May 11]], [[1970]] the [[Lubbock Tornado]] struck the city killing 26 people and doing about $125 million damage. Downtown's NTS Tower, then known as the Great Plains Life Building, is, at 271 feet in height, believed to be the tallest building ever to survive a direct hit from an F-5 tornado. [http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lub/climate/Local_interest_events/LUB_tornado/lubtor.html]

Work at the [[Lubbock Lake Landmark]], an [[archaeology|archaeological]] and [[natural history]] preserve at the northern edge of the city, provides evidence of almost twelve thousand years of human occupation in the region.

The current flag replaced the previous one at an unknown date.



Lubbock is the birthplace of [[Rock and Roll]] legend [[Buddy Holly]], and the city hosts both a cultural center and annual music festival named for him.

The city has also been the birthplace or home of several [[country music|country musicians]] including [[Jimmie Dale Gilmore]], [[Butch Hancock]], and [[Joe Ely]] (collectively known as [[The Flatlanders]]), [[Mac Davis]], [[Terry Allen (singer)|Terry Allen]], [[Lloyd Maines]] and his daughter, [[Natalie Maines]] (singer for the [[Dixie Chicks]]).

Lubbock also hosts the National Cowboy Symposium and Celebration, an annual event celebrating the prototypical [[American Old West|Old West]] [[cowboy]]. The event is held in September and features art, music, [[cowboy poetry]], stories, and the presentation of scholarly papers on cowboy culture and the history of the [[American West]]. A [[chuckwagon]] cookoff and [[horse]] parade also take place during the event.

Every year on [[July 4]], Lubbock hosts the 4th on Broadway event, an [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]] [[festival]]. The event is entirely free to the public, and is considered the largest free festival in Texas. The day's activities usually include a morning parade, a street fair along Broadway Avenue with food stalls and live bands, the Early Settlers' Luncheon, and an evening concert/fireworks program. Broadway Festivals Inc., the [[non-profit corporation]] which organizes the event, estimates a [[2004]] attendance of over 175,000 people.

Lubbock's main newspaper is the ''[[Lubbock Avalanche-Journal]]'', which is owned by [[Morris Communications]]. Texas Tech University publishes a student-run daily newspaper called, ''[[The Daily Toreador]]''.