Historic Midland

During the same period—the latter 1940s
through 1959—oil companies were constructing
buildings. They included Humble, Pan
American, Superior, Honolulu, Union and
Magnolia. The major oil companies built first,
then the independents. Some thought Midland
was overbuilding, but former Chamber of
Commerce executive Bill Collyns said that wasn’t
the case. Noted Collyns, “Almost every
building made money for the investors. It was
hard to go wrong in Midland.”
Spurred both by the Spraberry Trend development
and other oil discoveries in the immediate
area, Midland was enjoying tremendous
growth. The City of Midland began developing
Hogan Park and encouraging subdivision developers
to create neighborhood parks. Swimming
pools and tennis courts began to spring up.
The Midland Community Theatre, which had
been founded in 1946 by Art Cole, at first gave
performances in the City and County
Auditorium, but in 1958 moved to the Theatre
Center. Meanwhile, the Midland Symphony
played its first concert series in 1953.
With the increasing population, Midland
schools were also overcrowded. In fact, between
1949 and 1959, school enrollment rose from
3,686 to 14,647. In response, the school district
built 12 new elementary schools, three junior
❖
Above: A modern oil drilling platform
sits on the grounds of the Permian
Basin Petroleum Museum at Midland.
Thousands of visitors come to the
Museum each year.
Below: The Permian Basin Petroleum
Museum, Archives and Hall of Fame,
located at 1500 Interstate 20
Midland, Texas, has on exhibit Tom
Lovell paintings depicting the Permian
Basin region and an exhibit of oil
drilling equipment and methods of
extraction. Recorded messages guide
visitors through the various exhibits.
60 ✦ HISTORIC MIDLAND