From Desert to Boomtown: The Birth of Odessa, TX
Odessa's culture is one of a kind. Moving here when I was 8 years old, I have become part of it, from the Friday night football to having numerous pictures with the famous giant jackrabbit statue off of 8th street.
While these are staples of the community and every local knows, do we know the origin of Odessa? I decided to do the hard work and research how Odessa came to be.
Reading through the research I realized I didn't know much about Odessa's History. One thing I can say is that I don't need the history of Odessa to understand its people. Growing up in a low-income household showed me the community's heart. We all took care of each other and that's all that mattered.
THE START OF ODESSA
•Odessa was first settled around 1881 and was named after Odesa, Ukraine. It was most likely named by the Ukraine railroad workers because the local shortgrass prairie resembles Ukraine's landscape.
•It became a town because the Pacific Railway was expanded across the south plains. The cattle industry flourished because of the railroad which made Odessa a major cattle-shipping center by the 1890s.
•Odessa was flourishing by the 1900s. More and more people started to settle in the cattle shipping town. In 1926 oil was discovered in the region and only grew from there.
After reading about its origin, Odessa makes a little more sense to me. You won't read this in any research but it should be included. Even though Odessa is made of different people, we will always come together as a community.
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