TOWNSHIP ODESSA
May 1884...
A group of Zanesville, Ohio investors were brought to the area by the T&P
Railroad to attend a sale of lots by the Midland Town Company.
Headed by Colonel Tileston F. Spangler, a colorful lawyer, real estate
developer and promoter, the Ohioans were impressed with the potential for
profitable land sales and promotion of settlement. Resolved to establish the
"future great city of West Texas," the group headed west in a private railroad
car.
"By the time Well's Point was reached, there was not a man in the car who
was not expressing his delight at the magnificent prospect that opened up,"
Spangler reported.
An agreement was made with the railroad involving 24 sections of land (15,
360 acres) for $53,760. The 640 acres in Survey 27 surrounding Section House
163 were selected for the townsite.
The name "Odessa" was selected for the "future great city" after Odessa,
Russia, a then prosperous and widely known wheat and wheat-seed center and
seaport. This name would be synonymous to "wheat country" in the sales
pitch made to farmers in the north and midwest.
The "founders-promoters" of Odessa knew how to package a product and
sell it. Spangler had headed development of four new Zanesville additions.
Promotional ideas included brass bands, free carriage rides and lunches, open
auctions, prizes of gold coins and 1,700 free streetcar tickets.
Other principals included James Herdman, industrialist, railroad builder,
large lumber company owner and manufacturer of tile and farm implements.
The prime mover and chief financial backer was John Hoge, financier and
industrialist. Hoge, with his cousin, Robert Schultz, another Odessa founder,
owned a large soap factory.
Hoge's novel advertising ideas had created a nationwide market for the
firm's "Gold" and "Star" soaps. He sent a coach drawn by four white horses
through the streets of Boston and New York to plug "Gold." The "Star,"
originating in 1866, had been popularized by "rebuses, premiums, calendars,
and books of rhymes." The firm was later sold to Procter and Gamble for
$846,000.
Several of the other principals had also had experience in real estate
ventures.
The entrepreneurs set up a complex organization to finance and handle the
project: a syndicate and corporation in Ohio, a Texas charter to hold title and
two real estate firms to take care of details and the "heat."
The T&P gave a deed to John Hoge, Trustee, on February 17, 1886,
covering Survey 27 at a cost of $4 an acre for a total of $2,560.
Townsite Odessa consisted of 300 acres with 78 platted blocks. It was
bounded by North Washington street on the west, the railroad tracks on the
south, 8th street on the north, and on the east, Center Street, if it extended
south from 8th.
A 50' x 140' residential lot was priced at $100, a corner lot at $150. A 25' x
140' business lot was $150, if on the corner $200. Land was offered at $8 an
acre if 80 or 160 acres were purchased; smaller tracks sold for $10 an acre.
Terms offered were one4hird cash, one-third in one year and the balance the
next year. Interest was 8 percent on the unpaid balance. A 10 percent discount
was given for cash.
Two classic sales brochures were published: Span gler and Finley's Real
Estate Bulletin in 1886 and Texas, The New Southwest, The New County of
Ector, The New Town of Odessa in 1888.
"The future city" was described a being on "the Staked Plains of West
Texas" with sunshine, pure water and "no mosquitoes or dengue fever." To
overcome the fear of the West, prospective investors were assured there were
"no Indians nearer than 300 miles and there had never been a Mexican
raid...." And to recap the assuiaflces, ",..cowboys (are) as peaceful as
gentlemen...."
Migration was urged to this spot where the "air is so pure that invalids
should take advantage of the natural cure it offers for their ailments."
Future Odessans were assured there were "...no saloons and a promise there
never will be." In fact, deeds in the townsite contained a restriction against the
sale of liquor.
Representations were made that Odessa was not only a health spa, but an
agricultural area as well. Farmers were assured that "...a 40 acre irrigated
farm in Ector County would make more money than 160 acres in Kansas or
Iowa." Taxes were $1 on each $100 evaluation, with land valued at $1.25 per
acre.
Other good investment potentials were portrayed: a one room house 16' x
28' (painted) for $330; business houses 24' x 50' could be purchased for $450;
bricks $13 per thousand. The founders built a number of two-room houses to
help recruit settlers.
The founders were smart enough to know that people could not live by
bread alone. Free land was reserved for public schools, a courthouse, 20-room
sanitarium, a college, library and churches. The sanitarium was built and a
doctor sent to run it.
The founding fathers did not rely entirely upon the written word to sell the
"future city." Widely publicized lot sales with all the trimmings were held. In
cooperation with the T&P, low fare excursions were arranged from Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Kansas and Missouri. A special train paid for by the promoters
was brought down from Zanesville. A demonstration orchard and irrigation
system were subsidized.
A Grand Experiment Fails
But, the "best laid plans..."
Odessa and Ector County didn't sell as was hoped. Cities are hard to build
in this country. The image of "The West" was difficult to overcome, as it is
today and the elements didn't cooperate, as is often the case. There were
several bad drought years and the price of cattle and sheep dropped. Many of
the courageous pioneers did not have the cash to drill wells, buy windmills and
install irrigation. A number of lots and acres were purchased as investments by
absentee owners.
The railroad further undercut the scheme by selling land in the area for $1
an acre, the State of Texas gave land to homesteaders and leased grazing land
for 4 cents an acre.
In 1886, the population was 60. Eleven businesses were here in 1888. The
first U.S. Census taken in 1890 recorded 224 residents; 185 were Anglos born
in the U.S., one was Black, 28 were Mexican American and 11 were of
European extraction.
In 1895, John Hoge, individually and as Trustee, deeded 24 sections in
Block 42, except the "recorded plat of the City of Odessa and the College
Lots," to the Odessa Improvement and Irrigation Company, a Texas
Corporation.
The property was mortgaged to three Zanesville banks. A foreclosure was
filed by them and a Sheriff's sale occurred in 1896. The property was bought
back by the original principals for an amount sufficient to pay off the banks.
On January 8, 1897, the property was deeded to John Hoge. These actions
were taken to clear title and limit liability.
On March 4, 1903, Hoge deeded the 24 sections, with the above exceptions,
to T.J. Martin of Midland, H.M. Pegues and W.N. Waddell of Odessa. The
price was $38,915 with $10,000 down. The balance was paid in March, 1906.
In Retrospect
Odessans can be proud of their founding fathers. They were entrepreneurs
- free enterprisers willing to risk their money in an unknown part of the
country. True, they became involved to make a profit, but that has never been
a dirty word in these parts.
These men were civic and cultural leaders in their hometown. Spangler was
chairman of the first park board. Herdman headed a drive for a large hospital
and formed an industrial foundation that brought in a number of new
industries.
Schultz and Hoge built the Schultz Opera House that brought
Shakespearean productions and many famous entertainers to town.
Hoge was noted for his philanthropies. He gave a million dollars to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and half a million dollars to the
Actor's Fund of America.
In his Will he created a $25,000 "Hoge Concert Series" to bring music to
Zanesville. He also left $1,000 to each organized church and hospital there. He
made liberal bequests to orphan homes, YMCA, Black organizations and
other worthwhile endeavors.
Historical footnotes...
Oil and gas had been produced in the Zanesville area since 1866 and Hoge
and Herdman had participated in drilling and production - if they had "held
on another 23 years....
Hoge, who insisted on the anti-liquor restrictions in Odessa deeds and went
to court twice to defend them, signed a petition in 1911 for "...open, law-
abiding, well-regulated, tax paying saloons....
Little remains in Odessa to remind its citizens of the risks and financial loss
encountered by those founding fathers "...to establish the future great city of
West Texas." Nor is there much to be found on this significant period in its
heritage.
A few musty courthouse records, brief references - many incorrect - in
published works and Muskingum "Draw" and "Street," which are named for
the home county in Ohio of the founder promoters of Odessa, are the only
reminders.
Courtesy: ODESSA 100
an informal history
Published July 1981 by the
Exchange Club
Odessa, Ector County, Texas
1881-1981