Two hospitals within sixteen miles
Haskell and Stamford each have one. For a county this size that's unusual, and it matters on a job with this much steel in the air.
The job
The Haskell–Rule–Stamford triangle
Also known as Thelma data center · Journey data center · Housebound Group · Google Stamford · Google Rule
In November 2025 Google announced $40 billion for Texas through 2027, with three new campuses: one in Armstrong County in the Panhandle and two in Haskell County. The Haskell filings came through a Google-linked entity, Housebound Group. Thelma, in southern Haskell County, is the further along—its wastewater application describes five buildings, the first at 280,000 square feet. Journey, to the north, broke ground on a 210,000-square-foot building (Journey 2A) on June 23, 2026, aiming for completion in late October.
One of the two campuses is paired with a new solar-and-battery plant; both use air cooling, so water is limited to the kitchens and restrooms. Construction started in 2025, and this August Google pledged $6 million to the Haskell, Rule and Stamford communities, saying plainly that the growth had strained local infrastructure and emergency services.
That strain is housing. Haskell has a hospital and a grocery and very few rooms. Stamford is sixteen miles south on US-277 with its own hospital; Rule is twelve miles west. Abilene is an hour. LaborLodge is placing furnished weekly rooms across the three towns for the trades on both sites.
