Odessa dates to 1881, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #257 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Odessa was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Its Register listing is the White-Pool House. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1927 on, and the census since 1930.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1885.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Odessa’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Odessa is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #257 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Odessa’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Odessa ranks #316 on History.
Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Odessa’s 0.1 sits above most of its state (68% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Newer cities are common at Odessa’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1881.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Odessa’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Odessa was founded in 1881 as a water stop and cattle-shipping point on the Texas and Pacific Railway. Odessa is said to have been named after Odessa in the Russian Empire (present-day Odesa, Ukraine). The settlement was named by Russian workers building the railway in 1881, because the terrain reminded them of their homeland; the local shortgrass prairies resembled the steppes of the Russian Empire.
The first post office opened in 1885. Odessa became the county seat of Ector County in 1891 when the county was first organized. It was incorporated as a city in 1927, after oil was discovered in Ector County on the Connell Ranch southwest of Odessa.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1881, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Odessa’s post office opened in 1885, and the census of 1930 counted 2,407 people here.
How does Odessa rank for history?
Odessa is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #257 of 642 in Texas. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Odessa?
One place: the White-Pool House (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Odessa?
0.8% of Odessa’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1980.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1929
1937
1937
1937
