Established by Methodist minister L.H. Carhart, in 1878 as a “sobriety settlement” in contrast to typical boomtowns of that era. It earned the sobriquet “Saints Roost” by local...

Established by Methodist minister L.H. Carhart, in 1878 as a “sobriety settlement” in contrast to typical boomtowns of that era. It earned the sobriquet “Saints Roost” by local cowboys. Seat of Donley County. Many museums have fossilized specimens from the Clarendonian Age found near here, dating back 11 million years to the Early Pliocene Age. Locals call Clarendon home of “trailblazers, cattle barons, cowboys, preachers, teachers, sodbusters, merchants, craftsmen, artists, old bones and old fossils … and maybe a few saints!” Today farming and ranching still remain the primary economy of the county, with birding and wildlife viewing, as well as hunting, now popular in area. Don’t miss the Sandell Drive-In, an old-fashioned drive-in movie theater that shows first-run movies year-round.