The oil came in 1923. The Santa Rita No. 1 well, drilled out in the Permian Basin, struck a field of staggering size and set off a boom that remade West Texas — and Midland made itself its capital. Rather than the rigs and roughnecks of the field, Midland drew the offices, the geologists, the landmen, and the executives; by 1929 dozens of oil companies ran their Permian operations from downtown. Where blue-collar Odessa worked the field a few miles west, white-collar Midland ran the business. The boom has come and gone in waves ever since, and the horizontal-drilling resurgence after 2010 set the whole cycle spinning again.
Today Midland is the corporate capital of the Permian Basin — a high-plains city of oil and gas, energy professionals, and a downtown skyline that still surprises first-time visitors. The Permian Basin Petroleum Museum tells the story of the boom that built it, and the Museum of the Southwest anchors the city's arts and history. Our Midland designs gather that identity into wearable form — the Tall City, the longhorn-and-star, the oilfield grit, the big West Texas sky. Midland, Texas — where the skyline rises straight out of the plains and the whole town runs on what is buried beneath it.
Why People Visit Midland Texas
- Tour the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum, with interactive galleries on the geology and engineering of the oil boom and a replica 1930s Boom Town.
- Visit the Museum of the Southwest, combining art, science, and a children's museum on a historic estate.
- Walk the downtown Tall City core to see the high-rise skyline that rises straight off the plains.
- See the Bush Family Home, a Texas Historical Commission state historic site in a 1940s neighborhood.
- Catch a performance at the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center, the region's marquee venue.
