Historic Midland

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Right: George W. Bush, Governor of
Texas, spent many of his boyhood
days in Midland where his father was
engaged in the oil business. Many
Midlanders have fond memories of
their friendship with this fine family.
Below: Downtown Midland (1970)
showing First National Bank Tower
on Wall & Loraine.
sion for a helpless child came through to the
world during that one moving event. Jessica was
rescued—to the cheers of the world.
A dream of many Midland Republicans was
realized in 1988 when George Herbert Walker
Bush, who had moved his young family to Texas
from the Northeast during the 1950s, was elected
President of the United States. Midland
Republicans finally had a former Midlander in
the White House!
Two years later, Clayton Williams, Jr. won the
Republican nomination for Governor of Texas in
a contest that pitted him against Ann Richards,
who ultimately won the 1990 Gubernatorial
Election.
However, after serving one term, Governor
Richards was defeated by George W. Bush,
eldest son of President and Mrs. Bush, in the
1994 Gubernatorial Election. The younger Bush
had spent many of his childhood years in
Midland, but eventually moved to Dallas, where
he was known as a part-owner of the Texas
Rangers baseball team.
As Midland approached the end of the century,
its population teetered at the 100,000 mark.
In fact, early in 1998 the city’s staff estimated
that the city would reach, and possible surpass,
the 100,000 mark by the year 2000. At the time
of that estimate, Midland’s population stood at
98,045.
A population of nearly 100,000, skyscrapers
towering above the Texas Plains, an international
airport, busy highways, top-notch arts and
entertainment, a first-class community college—Midland
truly transmits the image of a
growing, vibrant city ready to meet the future
head-on.
It is a far cry from the vast grassland that greeted
Midland’s first settlers 120 years ago. Yet the
promise is still present for all who come to this
new horizon on the spreading plains of Texas.
Minority Community Enjoys
Noteworthy Achievements
Although three predominant races have been
represented in Midland’s population for a century,
significant growth in the Hispanic and Black
populations was not seen prior to about 1950.
Early-day photographs depict both Hispanic
and Black cowboys working on some Midlandarea
ranches before and after the turn of the century.
Through the years, both Hispanics and
Blacks have become an integral part of the
Midland community and now occupy positions
on nearly all of the governing bodies.
Carrie Newells, who came to Midland in
1939 with her husband Arthur Newells, noted
that few Blacks lived here at that time. As a
result, she and her husband, who were Black
and had moved to Midland from Dallas, could
not find suitable housing.
Her husband was subcontractor on a demoli-
64 ✦ HISTORIC MIDLAND