Unattended Death and Biohazard Cleanup in Bovina, TX

Bovina is a city in western Parmer County on U.S. Highway 60, sitting on the high plains of the Llano Estacado at an elevation of about 4,070 feet.

The community began as the Hay Hook Line Camp of the XIT Ranch, the giant ranch that received more than 3 million acres of Texas land in payment for building the State Capitol in Austin; the ranch headquarters here was one of the first buildings in Parmer County.

When the Pecos and Northern Texas Railway was built through the ranch in 1898, cowboys unloaded cottonseed feed at a switch here, and spilled feed drew XIT cattle onto the unfenced tracks - the animals would lie down and force train crews to stop and prod them off, earning the place the nickname 'Bull Town.'

The settlement took the more elegant name Bovina when its post office - the first in Parmer County - was established on January 31, 1899, and a historic marker topped with a longhorn bull statue still recalls the Bull Town era.

During its early boom, Bovina for a time shipped a larger volume of cattle than any other shipping point in the world, according to the Texas State Historical Association.

Bovina incorporated in 1948 with J. W. Kimbrow as its first mayor, and in 1976 it adopted the city manager form of government.

The 2020 census counted 1,699 people in 554 households in Bovina; about 86 percent of residents were Hispanic or Latino, and the median age was just 32.9 years.

Bovina's population peaked at 1,874 in the 2000 census and has eased downward since.

The city is served by the Bovina Independent School District, and Bovina High School's teams are the Mustangs, wearing maroon and white, with rivals in nearby Farwell and Friona.