United States / Odessa, TX

Comanche War Trail. A Barred, Bristling flying wedge--the Comanches--Rode into 18th century Texas, driving the Wichitas and Caddoes East, the Apaches West, becoming lords of the south plains. Harassed the Spanish and Anglo-Americans along frontier from Corpus Christi on the Gulf up to the Red River. Wrote their name in blood clear down to Zacatecas, Mexico. Captured women, children and horses along their road of blood, tears and agony. Many roads converged into the great Comanche war trail, which passed about 20 miles southeast of this marker. #996

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #01379

Ector County. Created February 26, 1887 from Tom Green County organized January 15, 1891, named in honor of Matthew Duncan Ector 1822-1879. Member of the Texas legislature a confederate officer and outstanding jurist Odessa, The County Seat. #1379

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #01383

Ector County Newspapers. In 1895, William C. "Uncle Billy" griffin came to Odessa from Midland and began publishing Ector County's first Newspaper, the Odessa "weekly news'. The "weekly news" lasted only a year, and was followed by six other short-lived weekly publications until Agu. 1927, when production of Odessa "times" and Odessa "news" began. In Oct. 1928, the two weekly papers were merged as the Odessa "news-times". The towns of penwell and Goldsmith supported for a short time, during the oil boom of the 1930s, the only Ector County newspapers known to have been published outside of Odessa. The first daily newspaper, the "daily bulletin", began in 1936. The "news-times" followed with a daily in 1937. On Oct. 2, 1940, R. Henderson shuffler consolidated the "daily bulletin" and the "news-time" into the Odessa "Amerinca", which he sold on Aug. 11, 1945. Ownership of the newspaper changed twice before Aug. 13, 1948, when it was purchased by Raymond Cyrus Hoiles of freedom newspapers, Inc. V. L. Debolt was appointed publisher and has held that position for 26 years. The Odessa "American" has withstood brief competition from 5 newspapers since its first publication and has been published at this site since 1951. #1383

222 East 4th St., Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #13490

Site of Blackshear High School. In early 1890, Inez Rathbun earned money teaching area students at the Ector County Courthouse. About the same time, Ector County organized a public school system. Over the next decades, the number of students in the area steadily increased. In 1921, the Texas Legislature officially established the Ector County Independent School District (ECISD). Both Anglos and Mexican-American students attended the same school. In 1932, the district established the first African American school in a one-room structure at the corner of South Muskingum and Myrtle streets. Ella Sayles served as the first teacher for the initial class of eight students. As the school grew, the district added a second classroom and utilized space at a nearby church. Although the district added three more rooms in the 1940s, by the 1947-48 school year, increased population caused the students to attend classes in shifts. In the fall of 1948, a campus for Blackshear High School opened at this site. Named for the noted Texas black educator Edward Lavoisier Blackshear, the school provided expanded facilities for African American students in the upper grade levels. Upon integration of all the district schools in 1966, the campus was converted for use as Blackshear Middle School. In 1983, it became a magnet elementary school. Its link to early education in the community and to its namesake educator remain significant today. (2006) #13490

501 S Dixie, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02137

General Matthew D. Ector. Enlisted 1861. Lieutenant 3rd Texas Cavalry. Fought Arkansas, Missouri and Indian territory. As colonel led 14th Texas Cavalry Kentucky invasion. Made brigadier general 1862 to command famed Ector's brigade in Tennessee and Mississippi battles. Wounded four times without leaving Chickamauga field. Under constant fire 70 days in Georgia. Lost leg in Atlanta 1864. Assigned to defense of Mobile, Alabama. A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy erected by the state of Texas 1963, #2137

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #03511

Mrs. John L. Morris (Marjorie). Originator, promoter of the glove of the great southwest, world's most nearly authentic replica of the globe theater in England made famous by the plays of William Shakespeare. Mrs. Morris was educated at north Texas state university and joined the English faculty at Odessa college. In 1961 the college named her "Teacher of the years". She was honored 1961 as an outstanding teacher in Texas college. She also founded the permian basin museum and area "writers' roundup" contest, both of which are sponsored by Odessa college. Outstanding women of Texas series, 1967. #3511

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #04853

Site of Old Livery Stable and Wagon Yard. Established 1897 as Odessa's first livery stable and wagon yard by Francis M. Tallant. Cowmen stabled their horses, then headed for ranch saloon located across from stable. Sold 1906 to C. A. Beardsley, who advertised "good rigs, dray line and prompt attention." Livery stable had saddle horses and animal-drawn vehicles for hire. Wagon yard offered shelter for travelers and their teams. Automobiles changed life. In 1915, Joe W. Rice bought stable and converted it into a garage sandstone structure (covered with stucco) still stands. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967. #4853

205 N. Grant St., Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #03666

Odessa. Founded 1881. Legend says name came from an Indian princess who wandered into camp of texas & Pacific railroad construction gang. others say it was for Odessa on Russian plains--area west Texas resembles. County seat ever since Ector was organized, 1891. has had great growth since 1926 oil strike. Center for one of the two largest oil fields in the world. Has largest inland petrochemical complex in united states, alone with many other diversified industries. It is also the oilfield supply capital of the world. Odessa college has served area since 1946. City has 143 churches; a symphony orchestra; clubs for sports, service, culture. Recreational attractions include nation's second largest meteor crater; exact replica of shakespeare's 16th century globe theatre; 4 museums; a planetarium; industrial tours; "permian playhouse"; "Prairie Dog Pete" park; world's largest Jackrabbit statue; and 21 payground-parks. Unique "presidential room" depicts lives of U.S. presidents in art, documents, and memorabilia. Sandhill Hereford and quarterhouse show opens annual rodeo season for entire southwest. World famous permian basin oil show is held biennially. #3666

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #05362

The Jackrabbit. True plains Rabbit. Lives only in the west. Burro-like ears gave him his name. color is protective, blending with sand and dry grass. Very long legs make him a swift runner, clocked at speeds to 45 miles and hour. Object of hunts with Greyhounds. Was prized by plains Indians for food and fur. to white man a reminder of desert-hard life. In drouth and depression, meat source for thousands. Subject of tall tales. Actual hero of world's only Jackrabbit Rodeo, in Odessa, May 1932. #5362

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #03669

Odessa Telephone Exchange. Began operation about 1897, with Edna Fielding as "central" (operator). After Miss Fielding's death in 1902, the Rev. G. B. Ely, a baptist minister, purchased the exchange. Pioneer rancher A. Quincy Cooper bought the system in 1911, and extended service to rural areas, utilizing barbed wire fences as telephone lines. While checking his repairs on a barbed wire line on Jan. 25, 1915, Cooper interrupted the first transcontinental telephone call between Alexander Graham Bell in New York and his assistant in San Francisco. In 1928, the exchange became part of the southwestern bell telephone company. #3669

205 N. Grant St., Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #14699

First Compressor Transmission Engine. #14699

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #04106

Prairie Dog. Actually a squirrel. Gets name from its bark. It was food for settlers, especially in drouths. Lives in cluster of burrows called a "Town". Burrows, hazardous to running horses, often have caused broken bones among horses and riders. Also prairie dogs ate grass roots, destroying cattle feed. One old-time town was 100 miles wide and extended, almost unbroken, 250 miles southward from prairie dog town fork of Red River. Extermination has wiped out most colonies. This colony was established in 1959 by Odessa rotary club. #4106

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #01472

Emigrant Trail. Road of Stubborn seekers of 1849 California gold fields and better life. Bringing the old, infant, the yet unborn and all worldly goods, family wagons entered Texas at Preston, on Red River, to go southwest via springs Including some now in Monaghan Sandhills Park) to emigrants' crossing on the Pecos, then upriver and west through Guadalupe pass to El Paso. Old wagon parts by the trail tell of some disasters. Capt. R. B. Marcy in 1849 and Capt. John Pope in 1854 made army surveys of the trail. It passed near this spot. #1472

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #01380

Ector County Courthouse. Seat of justice for Ector, created out of Tom Green County in 1887 and organized in 1891. The 1891 courthouse was frame, the remodelled town sanitarium, moved to the present square. Its first floor had rooms for the sheriff, court clerks and Odessa school, while the county and district courtroom was upstairs. As the only public building in town, it provided space for dances. socials and church services. Picnics and baptizings were held at the windmill and tank on the northwest corner of the square. As townsite restriction banned the sale of liquor, Odessa was usually quiet. However, fights broke out when settlers rushed to the courthouse to file claims on public lands. In 1904 a 2-story red stone courthouse was built just east of the early one. On the lawn in 1906 the Christian church was organized. At that time Odessa ha 400 people and little hope for growth, because of drouths and their effects on cattle raising. After oil discoveries of 1926 stimulated Ector's development, a 3-story cement building was erected in 1938. The fourth structure was dedicated April 12, 1964, by governor John Connally. #1380

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #03667

Odessa Land & Townsite Company. The Texas & Pacific Railroad transferred 640 acres of its land grants here in 1886 to John Hoge of Zanesville, Ohio. He formed the Odessa land & townsite company to promote sale of town lots. Prime house lots sold for $150 and business lots for $200. Literature was distributed in eastern states citing rich soil, pure water, healthful climate, and railroad sponsored excursion trains with free sleeping cars for prospective Byers form 1886 to 1889. A small frame building on this site, razed in 1911, served as the land office, and later as a school and church. #3667

205 N. Grant St., Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #03697

Old Buffalo Wallow. The nearby depression survives from an epoch when great buffalo herds migrated through west Texas, many moving between present Canada and Mexico over two major trails in the Odessa area. Wallows began with individual buffalo rolling in the dirt to rid themselves of pests or shed their heavy winter coats in springtime. Repeated wallowing in the same spot by countless buffalo created an efficient depression to accomplish the cleaning ritual. Most wallows were eight to 12 feet across and two feet deep. Buffalo existed in the millions in north America, ranging throughout the western and central plains of Texas. They were pursued seasonally by the plains Indians, who subsisted on the food and clothing the buffalo provided. In the late 19th century, railroads bisected their trails, isolating the herds and providing transportation of meat and hides to distant markets. In Texas vast buffalo slaughters were encouraged in the 1870s by the army, who wanted to deprive Indians of their commissary; settlers, who had crops trampled and forage consumed by the passing herds; and hunters, who realized quick profit particularly from hides. The buffalo had all but disappeared from this area when Odessa was founded in 1886. (1986) #3697

4800 E. 42nd St., Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #03988

Permian Basin. One of the two richest oil fields in the world. Discovery began in 1920 at a Mitchell County Well. Next came the 1923 big lake strike, then the wild 1925 boom in Upton County, followed by production in Andrews, Crane, Ector, Martin, Midland, Pecos, Ward, Winkler and 24 other counties. In some years new wells averaged 38 a week. Fortunes were Mae, lost, then regained--all within months. So great were yields that oil brought 50 cents a barrel, while drillers paid $5.00 a barrel for drinking water. Area is 88,610 square miles, with center here at Odessa. Extends across a deeply buried prehistoric sea that more than 250 million years ago contained much fish and reptile life, including dinosaurs. Shores and islands later grew giant vegetation, until earth changes buried animals and plants in pockets that turned hydrocarbons into petroleum. In 40 years from its discovery, the Permian Basin, was producing 53% of total oil in Texas 20% of U.S. crude oil. It is one of the world's largest producers of channel carbon black. Other by-products sulphur, asphalt, synthetic rubber ingredients and petrochemicals. #3988

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #04894

Site of The Dawson Saloon. Frontier business of S.T. (TOL) and E.F. (LISH) Dawson, brothers. Lish Dawson, 1891-92 Sheriff of Ector County, had a barber chair in the Saloon, and helped tend bar. Liquor was in 40-gallon barrels. Ice for drinks was hauled from great lakes by Texas & Pacific Railroad. To avoid township restriction on liquor sales, Dawson moved saloon to the street; Tol was brought to trial for this. "White Ribboners"--Clubwomen opposed saloons. In the face Lish Dawson lost his office, and the business was closed. #4894

125 West 2nd St., Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #05697

Waddell Pecan Tree. A few years after Odessa was founded in 1881, a squirrel stole a pecan from a neighbor's porch, and buried it in the yard of W. T. Malone, planting this tree. A rarity in the downtown area, it became a well-known landmark. When R. T. ("Cotton") Waddell (1889-1964) and his wife Mary Lee moved from their ranch to this home on July 1, 1926, they found entire neighborhood enjoying the native pecans from their tree. The R. T. Waddells, younger generation of a family influential in this region since the 1870s, gave time and talent to civic works as freely as their tree gave shade. #5697

321 N. Lee, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #00280

Baker Ranch School. Since there were no public schools in rural Ector County, R.W. Smith and Teague Baker in 1906 erected an 8'x10' school building in Baker's pasture. They hired a teacher at $15 a month, plus room and board, which each furnished on alternate months. Ranch schools like this one taught not only children of ranchers, but also those of cowboys and nesters--small farmers coming west to homestead or to by land at nominal prices. Baker community later had a public school. Till the permian basin had good roads and buses, ranch schools served it well. #280

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #05786

White-Pool House. Charles White (1824-1905) moved his family here from Indiana seeking new business opportunities and a drier climate for his wife's health. With the aid of his sons Wilfred Walton White and Herbert Haughton White, he constructed this two-story brick residence in 1887, four years before the organization of Ector County. They modeled the home after their house in Indiana, adapting the style to the available building materials of the area. White farmed his 640-acre tract and also owned a mercantile store on the courthouse square. White's original tract, sold following his death, was divided by later real state transactions. In 1923 the house and fifty acres were purchased by Oso William Pool (B.1891) who had homesteaded land in New Mexico prior to his service in world war I. During the housing shortage created by the area oil boom of 1927, pool converted his residence into sale as individual lots. Later that year he married Helen Augutha Voss and they occupied the front part of the house. They moved in 1929, but member of the Pool family retained possession of the home until Oso Pool donated it to the county in 1977. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1980. #5786

112 E. Murphy, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #04813

Site of Homestead of William C. Sublett. Born 1835 in Alabama. Moved to north Texas before the civil war, in which he served as a confederate. After his wife died in 1874, he went to the Texas frontier to hunt Buffalo, taking his three young children with him. In 1881-1882 he supplied game to Texas & Pacific Railroad construction crews. (such hunting was important to development of west Texas and to transcontinental railroad construction). Settling later in Odessa, Sublett built near this site a dogout-and-tent home, and homesteaded a 160 acre claim. To support his family, he hauled wood and "Water-Witched" to locate wells for settlers. In the 1880's he attracted notice by using gold nuggets to trade for supplies. In explanation, he said an Apache Indian had directed him to a mine in the Guadalupe Mountains, about 150 miles west of here. Periodically he disappeared and returned with gold, but efforts to follow him to the mine always failed. He once took his young son there, but the boy could not find the way later. in 1889, Sublett sold his Ector County property. He died Jan. 6, 1892, in Barstow, without disclosing the location of his mine. However, stories of his treasure still lure explorers into the Guadalupe Mountains. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967. #4813

222 N. Grandview, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #04845

Site of Odessa College. Established through efforts of Odessa Townsite Co., which gave $12,000; a northern methodist group matched this fund in 1888. Rev. M. A. Daugherty, Pittsburgh, Pa., was placed in charge, and a 20-acre plot was allowed to the college. Erection of a 2-story building began in 1890. In 1891 classes for 14 students were taught by Miss Alice Wright, of Maine. A "Mystery" fire destroyed the college after one session. This church-sponsored college was never rebuilt. In 1946, the new Odessa college was founded to fulfill aims of leadership in education. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967. #4845

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #05750

Well's Point Texas & Pacific Railroad Wells. In 1879 railroad headed west out of Fort Word. Preceding construction on land later in town of Odessa-water wells were dug in July, 1881. Town section was thereafter called "Well's Point". One Well was unusable because of Alkali; other tow Wells supplied construction men, train crews. February 1886, just before Odessa lot sale, a group of townsite promoters came to Well's point in "An Armada of Prairie schooners" from mariensfield (now Stanton). Odessa was born Aug. 4, 1886, on a section owned by T. & P. Railroad. #5750

3500 W. 2nd St., Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #05298

The Cable Tool Rig. Equipment that replaced the spring pole drilling method used in America's earlier oil fields. The Cable Tool Rig used a bit suspended on a steel drilling cable. The bit is dropped in the hole and the impact breaks up the formation. The broken pieces are removed by a bail. This method made possible the deeper penetration so necessary in the southwest. The Cable Tool Rig was introduced in Texas in 1866. (some use of Cable Tools had been made around 1840 in the north.) Texas gave the southwestern oil industry the first lease, the first oil pipe line, the first wooden and iron storage tanks, the first iron drums for transporting crude oil and first use of the augur principle later employed in rotary rigs. The Cable Tool Rig brought in the first important wells of the permian basin. This Rig was reconstructed from parts of several Rig was reconstructed from parts of several rigs actually used at big lake, Regan county, where the No. 1 Santa Rita blew in during may 1923 as the first well in the first major oil field in the permian basin. To the cable tool rig and the men who used it goes credit for the great development in the permian basin. #5298

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #05299

The Caprock. A range of flat-topped ridges and cliffs stretching from Texas panhandle to 20 miles South of this point and extending into new Mexico. The name also refers to tough limestone that caps ridges. Rising sharply 200 to 1,000 ft. above plains. This section, Concho Bluffs, Marks Western edge of Caprock escarpment. Called the "Break of the plains" because it divides the staked plains from the north central plains of Texas. Observed by Coronado's expedition, 1540-1540, provided shelter in storms, but delayed entrance of settlers to staked plains. Herds of stampeding cattle at times plunged over its edge. In the area, the Caprock blocked eastbound wagons, including some from California gold fields in 1850'a. Because of scarce surface water, staked plains were too dry for farming or ranching until wells were drilled and windmills installed. Ridges and canyons here hindered railroad building. In 1881 workmen earned $2.50 a day-highest wages ever paid until then on a texas railroad job-at "Colt's Big Rock Cut" (the mile-wide, 17-ft. chasm visible here). A tragic accident with dynamite injured several of Colt's men and killed three. Their graves, known to the pioneers around Odessa, were on a hill northeast of the tracks, but cannot now be found. #5299

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #01382

Ector County Land Rush. Here in 1904 a fight involved almost every man in Ector County, over filing a claim for 4 sections of public land. Elias Dawson and Charlie Lewis each brought friends to help him file. Before courthouse doors opened, several men had clothes or boots torn off, in foes' efforts to find filing papers. When the doors opened, a man was boosted over the heads of the crowd, and Lewis won the 4 sections of land. Texas as a republic owned over 200,000,000 acres of public land. She used land to attract settlers, pay her soldiers, set up school funds. At annexation, she retained her public lands--the only state to do so. In a boundary dispute she ceded 63,552,144 acres; used land to pay for railroads, harbors and canals; compensated civil war soldiers of widows with land; traded 3,000,000 acres for a state capitol. By 1883 her lands were over-committed. Free grazing had to be stopped. Terminations of leases and the corrections of surveys later made available some land for filing. This led to the 1904 rush. In one courthouse a man hid overnight to be first in line. Cattle chutes to a clerk's window would be lined for months with men hoping to file. Cowboys and farmers battled. Filing was a challenge. #1382

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #01384

Ector County's First Dry Hole. Drilled in 1924 near this site. Geologists were forecasting oil and urgently-needed potash, but Pennsylvania experts (using a chilled shop core drill) gave up the well at 900 feet, on "Red Bed" Rock--A substance new to them. Loss in this and a second drilling was $150.000. In 1927 a well was brought in just west of Odessa, and in a few years oil was found within yards of the first dry hole. By 1964 Ector County had 9,600 oil and 22 gas wells. However, the U.S. average is 8 dry holes out of 9 wells such as that drilled here in 1924. #1384

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #01434

El Paso Natural Gas Company's First Compressor Transmission Engine. A landmark tool in man's conquest of energy. This compressor went into use in Culberson County, Tex., on Oct. 1, 1931, and served until 1969, aiding in the rise of the southwest as an industrial empire. This was the first compressor transmission engine at the number one transmission station of El Paso natural gas company, founded in 1928 by Paul Kayser, a Houston attorney. The pioneer transmission station of the El Paso natural gas company was one of the earliest in the permian basin. A cooper-bessemer type 19, this machine is an 800-horsepower horizontal tandem reciprocating compressor engine. Equipped with two 10 1/4-inch by 24-inch gas compressor cylinders, it weigh about 173,000 pounds. It served under load for 152,064 hours, compressing more than 144 billion cubic feet of natural gas in its working lifetime. It conveyed production from fields at Jal, N. M., and in Winkler County, Tex., to city of El Paso and southern New Mexico and Arizona. It was the first machine of its kind in a system that expanded into 22,000 miles of forwarding lines furnishing low-cost energy for industries and households in eleven western states. #1434

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02543

Homer Robert Henderson. Texas Ranger; deputy sheriff; county commissioner in Ector and (later) in Crane County. Born in Wilson County; one of 12 children of Robert and Mary Elizabeth (O'Neal) Henderson. Came to Odessa as member of company a, Texas Rangers, under command of Capt. J. A. Brooks, in 1906. This was in period when Rangers kept the peace during citizen's filing of land claims. Married Annie Henderson here, October 8, 1908. Ranched in area. #2543

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #03670

Odessa. After the Texas and Pacific Railway extended its line to the South Plains of Texas in 1881, the Odessa Land and Townsite Company of Zanesville, Ohio, began promotional efforts to attract settlers to its property along the rail line. Regular excursion trains brought many settlers to the area, including Charles and Lucy White, who came with their family from Indiana and helped transform this area from prairie to city. Their 1887 home serves as a museum today, a reminder of Odessa's early development. Odessa's first post office opened in 1885. The town was platted the following year and became county seat when Ector County was formally organized in 1891. The first elected county commissioners were M.G. Buchanan, J.W. Driven, James Bolton and J.L. Gray. Located in the Permian Basin, in the midst of great oil and natural gas reserves, Odessa was a small farming and ranching town until oil was discovered on the W.E. Connell Ranch (16 mi. SW) in 1926. Growth was rapid, and the city was incorporated the following year, with S.R. McKinney as first mayor. By 1930, Odessa was an established oil center and after World War II, it became a major distribution and processing point in the petrochemical industry. The city of Odessa serves as a vital trading center for this part of Texas and boasts civic, cultural and educational opportunities for citizens and visitors alike. With its roots in cattle and oil, the community is an important reflection of Texas history and heritage. (1967, 2002) #3670

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #03668

Odessa Meteor Craters. East and South (route marked) is located the Odessa Meteor Craters, formed in prehistoric time when a great shower of nickel-iron meteorites collided with the earth. Geologists estimate that the time of the meteor fall was about 20,000 years ago. The shower was composed of many thousands of individual meteorites of various sizes which fell over an area of about 2 square mile. The smaller meteorites, which were by far the most numerous, either came to rest on the earths' surface or at the bottom of shallow impact pits within the soil. there were several very large meteoritic masses in the shower, however, and these struck the earth with such enormous energy that they penetrated deeply into bedrock and shattered with explosive force, thus producing craters in the earth at the places of impact. when freshly formed the craters were funnel-shaped depressions, the largest about 550 feet in diameter and 100 feet in depth. More than 100,000 cubic yards of crushed rock was ejected from this crater by the energy released from the impacting meteoritic mass. Smaller crater in the vicinity of the main crater range from 15 feet 18 feet in depth. In the ages following their formation the craters gradually accumulated sediments deposited by wind and water. The main crater was eventually filled to with 6 feet of the level of the surrounding plain. It now appears as a shallow, nearly circular depression surrounded by a low, rock-buttressed rim. The several smaller associated craters were so completely buried that their existence was not suspected until they were exposed in excavations made by the University of Texas, in the early 1940's. Meteor craters are among the rarest and most interesting of land features. Observations by astrophysicists indicated that meteoritic bodies which strike our earth originate within our Solar System, probably form the steroidal belt located between the planets, Jupiter and Saturn. #3668

?, Odessa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #04898

Site of The Odessa Sanitarium. Established in 1886 by Odessa Townsite Company, the Odessa medical and surgical sanitarium was directed by Dr. R.E. Haughton, a former railroad physician from Indiana. It was located in a two-story wooden structure of twenty rooms. By March 1890 the project had failed. Dr. Haughton moved to Midland. The building became a have for migrant families. A portion was used as a church. When Ector County was created in January 1891, the sanitarium was moved several blocks and became the first Ector County Courthouse. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967. #4898

?, Odessa, TX, United States