Ransom Canyon is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Lubbock County Lubbock County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 census placed the population at 310,639. Its county seat and largest city is Lubbock. The county was created in 1876 and organized in 1891. It is named for Thomas Salt ...

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the desert climate, arid and semiarid climate, semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Texas, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Texa ...

, United States. The population was 1,189 at the 2020 census. It is part of the

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

The town of Ransom Canyon is located within

Yellow House Canyon Yellow House Canyon is about long, heading in Lubbock, Texas, at the junction of Blackwater Draw and Yellow House Draw, and trending generally southeastward to the edge of the Llano Estacado about east of Slaton, Texas; it forms one of three ...

, at the eastern edge of the

Llano Estacado The Llano Estacado (), sometimes translated into English as the Staked Plains, is a region in the Southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas. One of the largest mesas or tablelands on the North A ...

. Yellow House Canyon was carved by the

North Fork Double Mountain Fork Brazos River The North Fork Double Mountain Fork Brazos River is an intermittent stream about long, heading at the junction of Blackwater Draw and Yellow House Draw in the city of Lubbock, flowing generally southeastward to its mouth on the Double Mountain F ...

. This stream has been dammed multiple times to form Buffalo Springs Lake and Lake Ransom Canyon. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 16.38%, is water. File:Ransom Canyon November 2009.JPG, Lake Ransom Canyon File:Haboob Ransom Canyon Texas 2009.jpg, Gust-front dust cloud moving across the

toward Ransom Canyon

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Ransom Canyon has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,189 people, 400 households, and 309 families residing in the town.

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,011 people, 404 households, and 338 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 412 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 95.25%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.40%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.20% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 2.57% from other races, and 1.19% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 4.85% of the population. There were 404 households, out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 80.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 3.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.1% were non-families. 14.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.76. In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.0% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 36.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $78,427, and the median income for a family was $85,944. Males had a median income of $50,000 versus $34,500 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $45,675. None of the families and 0.6% of the population were living below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including no under eighteens and 0.7% of those over 64.

Education

Ransom Canyon is served by the Roosevelt and Slaton Independent School Districts.

Robert Bruno

Robert R. Bruno Jr. (1945–2008) was a sculptor and inventor born in Los Angeles in 1945. Robert grew up in Mexico and the United States before attending Dominican College in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River (Wisconsin), Root River, south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. It is the List ...

and graduate school at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

. He moved to Lubbock in 1971 to teach art at

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

's school of architecture. In 1982, he and wife Patricia Mills founded P&R Surge Systems. He started working on The Steel House in 1973, two years after sculpting a similar piece of art (now a permanent installation in front of the TTU School of Architecture), which inspired him to build something bigger to live in. Made of

weathering steel Weathering steel, often referred to by the genericised trademark COR-TEN steel and sometimes written without the hyphen as corten steel, is a group of steel alloys that form a stable external layer of rust that eliminates the need for painting ...

and weighing 110 tons on four hollow legs, the 2,200 square foot house on three levels was completed 10 months before his death in 2008. Robert, in the role of General contractor, along with Master Stone Masons Rick Denser and Manfred Kaiter and investor Mark Lawson, started work on Lawson's 460 ton Rock House in 1991. It had been inspired by the work of

Antoni Gaudi Antoni is a Catalan, Polish, and Slovene given name and a surname used in the eastern part of Spain, Poland and Slovenia. As a Catalan given name it is a variant of the male names Anton and Antonio. As a Polish given name it is a variant of the ...

. File:Lawson Castle in Ransom Canyon, TX IMG 0162.JPG, The Lawson Rock House in Ransom Canyon File:Ransom Canyon Steel House 2009.JPG, Robert Bruno's Steel House overlooking the rim at Ransom Canyon

Popular culture

On June 25 and 26, 2013, Ransom Canyon was the site of a

Vogue (magazine) ''Vogue'' (stylized in all caps), also known as American ''Vogue'', is a monthly Fashion journalism, fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers style news, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and Fashion show#Catwalk, runw ...

fall-fashion photo shoot. Three models,

Raquel Zimmermann Raquel Cristina Zimmermann (born May 6, 1984) is a Brazilian model and activist. Throughout her career Zimmermann has appeared on 37 ''Vogue'' covers. She currently ranks under "Icons" on models.com. Biography Zimmerman was born in Rio Grande do ...

Toni Garrn Antonia Garrn (; born 7 July 1992) is a German model. She rose to prominence in the fashion industry after signing an exclusive contract with Calvin Klein in 2008. She was married to British actor Alex Pettyfer, with whom she has a daughter. ...

and brother Niklas Garrn, were photographed by Steven Klein in and around Robert Bruno's steel house, sometimes wearing

Google Glass Google Glass, or simply Glass, is a discontinued brand of smart glasses developed by Google's X Development (formerly Google X), with a mission of producing a ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information to the wearer using a head-u ...

. Photographs appear in th
September 2013 issue
of Vogue. File:Ransom Canyon Texas Vogue Photo Shoot.jpg, Model

standing on top of Robert Bruno's steel house. File:Ransom Canyon Texas Vogue Magazine Photo Shoot.jpg, Models

and brother Niklas Garrn strike a pose for Vogue. File:Ransom Canyon Texas Vogue Mag Photo Shoot.jpg, Model

standing on the rim of

. The Steel House was featured on an episode of ''

Texas Country Reporter ''Texas Country Reporter'' is a weekly TV syndication, syndicated television program hosted by J.B. Sauceda, which airs in all twenty-two Texas media markets, generally on weekends, and nationally on the satellite/cable channel RFD-TV.

'' with

Bob Phillips Robert Leon Phillips (born June 23, 1951) is an American television journalist best known for his long-running program '' Texas Country Reporter''. In 2005, Phillips was inducted into the Silver Circle of the Lone Star Chapter of the National A ...

shortly before Bruno's death.

Notes

References

External links

* *
Robert Bruno Steel House

Vogue magazine September 2013 issue featuring Bruno's steel house

Public domain images of the Llano Estacado and West Texas

P&R Surge Systems, the company Robert Bruno founded
{{authority control Towns in Lubbock County, Texas Llano Estacado Lubbock metropolitan area Towns in Texas 1965 establishments in Texas