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Midland's Twenties were especially roaring

2/8/2011

6 Comments

 
Picture
   In researching and talking so far with about half of the people whose comments will give voice to "A History of Character: The Story of Midland, Texas" book, three common themes have been on almost everyone's lips. Everyone -- almost literally -- mentions First National Bank,. Jno. P. Butler and the crash of the 1980s. Certainly those three topics will figure prominently in any story of our history.

   But in poring over documents related to Midland, it is interesting to note what we have experienced as a town, decade by decade. And as 10-year spans go, the 1920s were a wild time to be a Midlander. How it must have felt to live here during that time and witnessed the growth of Midland.

    Take a look at some of the major events of the decade, which opened to a population of 2,500:

    The Scharbauer Hotel was built
    The Thomas Building was built
    Oil activity in the Permian Basin began in earnest when the Westrbrook Field in Mitchell County was discovered
    First oil well in West Texas was drilled, nine miles south of Midland
    Hwy. 80, “The Broadway of America,” built through Midland (1921)
    Santa Rita gusher begins (May 1923)
    The McCamey Field, which started the shift from San Angelo to Midland as oil capital of West Texas, was discovered.
    Ira G. Yates No. 1-A opened the Yates oil field in Pecos County. (1926)  
    Gulf Oil Corp. moved its West Texas land and geology offices to Midland from San Angelo.
    In 1926, the total production of all WestTexas oil fields was 46,106,508 barrels of oil.
    Midland's first city hall – a combination police station, fire house and municipal services office, located at Loraine and Illinois -- was built
     In 1928, an 18-foot strip of Wall St. was paved
    1929 – The Hogan Building held its grand opening
    By 1928, Midland's population had reached 3,000.

   Those are just a few of the highlights of the Roaring 20s, Midland style, when we were a young town.

    It could easily -- and likely successfully -- be argued that in the 1920s, Midland discovered itself as it forged a direction that would lead ever increasingly to an oil economy, a direction that remains our reality and what, to a large extent, still sustains us 90 years later.

(Photo: Nita Stewart Haley Memorial Library, of Llano Hotel, corner of Abilene and Iowa streets, which would late be the intersection of Main and Wall. Today, you would be looking from the south at the Midland Center standing roughly in the Federal Building Parking lot where this photo was taken.)


6 Comments
missy moscoe
2/8/2011 04:56:26 am

I would suggest speaking to my uncle, Newnie Ellis, age 90 who was born and raised in Midland. He is a wealth of information and is still very accurate in his memory of things. A wonderful man that you would not want to miss meeting.

Having been raised in Midland myself, I enjoy your articles.

Reply
Kelly Coleman link
2/8/2011 06:46:35 am

Midland really did 'roar' in the 20's! What an exciting
time it must have been to live here then and experience that first
boom!

Reply
Sharon
2/8/2011 09:09:42 am

Mr. Ellis was a must for Midland but I am sad when a loved one passes cause it just isn't the same. GRAMMER-MURPHY downtown. Worked for John Murphy in distributed ed1970 to 73. Mrs Murphy (mom ) would come in and she was so sweet. OLD MIDLAND.zl

Reply
Lisa Bedford Sams
2/9/2011 06:09:37 am

My grandmother had a sheer pink beaded "flapper" dress from this era. She must of a a great time in it! She was Juanita Hill Bedford, born and raised in Midland like me.

Reply
michael D. caldwell
8/22/2013 01:54:18 am

its really great to be able to read about my great grandfather and his contribution into help building Texas. I was told that J.M. Caldwell also had a ranch witch was sold to the Scarbourough family in the 20s. My grand father J.M. Caldwell jr. moved to El Paso and went to work for Phelps Dodge as a book keeper. I was also told that Judge J.M. Caldwell had the biggest law library between FT. Worth and El Paso.

Reply
MaryAnn Sheetz Kawaja
5/28/2017 06:32:54 pm

Love the old Midland stories. Grew up in Midland from 1952 and stayed till 1974!

Reply



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    About the Blog

    Welcome, and thanks for your interest in what will be a rewarding trip through our shared past. This "History of Character" blog is only the beginning. A book by the same name -- "A History of Character: The Story of Midland, Texas" -- will be published September 2014. Through this blog you'll be able to track the progress of the project and learn along with the book's author, Jimmy Patterson. If you have stories to share that you think deserve mention in the history of our city, drop an email to historyofcharacter@gmail.com.

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