Netflix recently released the Ransom Canyon TV series, based on the first of eight books written by New York Times bestselling author Jodi Thomas. A writer on their website explained that the town is fictional, saying: “Ransom Canyon might be an incorporated piece of land, but there’s no town there.” As a long-time resident, I found this dismaying, as if someone had just told me I was adopted.
True, Ransom Canyon looks nothing like the wide-open prairie shown in the series, which was filmed around Las Vegas, New Mexico, but it is a real town. In depicting it as a sprawling ranch, the series’ producers followed Thomas’s book. She used the name–which you have to admit is pretty darn poetic—but not the real place. Having grown up around Amarillo, she imbues her work with authentic West Texas flavor and style.
So what’s in that “incorporated piece of land” mentioned in the article, undoubtedly by someone from Hollywood who didn’t own a map? Located east of the Lubbock’s Loop 289 with a population of 1,189, Ransom Canyon boasts a city hall, a POA pool, two churches, a small police force, and volunteer fire and EMS. The Ranch House serves as both a community center and a rentable venue. There isn’t a school, so students attend classes at Roosevelt, Slaton, or Lubbock. Despite a general belief among many Lubbockites, Ransom is not far from the city. I can leave my house and be at Indiana Avenue and the South Loop in just under 20 minutes – a commute many in Dallas would envy…