Plainview, city, seat (1888) of Hale county, northwestern Texas, U.S. It lies on the Llano Estacado, a portion of the High Plains between Amarillo and Lubbock (40 miles [65 km] south). The site was surveyed in 1887 by Z.T. Maxwell and E.L. Lowe, who named it Plainview because of the unbroken view to the horizon. The settlement remained a trading post for cattlemen until the railroad arrived in 1907, when it was incorporated as a city.
Lying along Running Water Draw, the city is now a service centre for extensive farmlands that are irrigated by thousands of wells; the chief crops are wheat, cotton, castor beans, grain sorghums, and vegetables. Plainview’s industries are farm-based and include meat packing and the manufacture of irrigation equipment. It is the seat of Wayland Baptist University (1906); the Llano Estacado Museum, which houses exhibits on the region’s history, culture, and economy, is located on its campus. Annual events include a rodeo (June) and a cotton festival (October). Pop. (2000) 22,336; (2010) 22,194.