Midland

Sister cities

• Chihuahua City
• Chihuahua Municipality
• New Amsterdam

History

Midland was established in June 1881 as Midway Station, on the Texas and Pacific Railway. Its name came from its central location between Fort Worth and El Paso, but because there were already other towns in Texas named Midway, the city changed its name to Midland in January 1884 when it was granted its first post office. Midland became the county seat of Midland County in March 1885, when that county was first organized and separated from Tom Green County. By 1890, it had become one of the state's most important cattle shipping centers. The city was incorporated in 1906, and by 1910 established its first fire department, along with a new water system. Midland was changed significantly by the discovery of oil in the Permian Basin in 1923 when the Santa Rita No. 1 well began producing in Reagan County, followed shortly by the Yates Oil Field in Iraan. Midland became the West Texas oil fields' administrative center. During World War II, it had the nation's largest bombardier training base. A second boom began after the war, with the discovery and development of the Spraberry Trend, still the country's third-largest oil field by total reserves. Yet another boom period took place during the 1970s, with the high oil prices associated with the oil and energy crises. Today, the Permian Basin produces one fifth of the nation's total petroleum and natural gas output. Midland's economy still relies heavily on petroleum, but the city also became a regional telecommunications and distribution center. By August 2006, a busy period of crude oil production had caused a significant workforce deficit. According to the Midland Chamber of Commerce, at that time there were almost 2,000 more jobs available in the Permian Basin than there were workers to fill them. In 1959, John Howard…

Geography

Midland is in the Permian Basin in the West Texas plains. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 71.5 square miles (185.2 km), of which 71.3 square miles (184.7 km) is land and 0.2 square mile (0.5 km) (0.28%) is water. Midland has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh) bordering upon a hot arid climate (BWh) and a cool semi-arid climate (BSk) with hot to sweltering summers and cool to mild winters. It occasionally has cold waves during the winter, but rarely sees extended periods of below-freezing cold. Midland receives approximately of precipitation per year, much of which falls in the summer. Highs exceed on 115 afternoons per year and on 24 afternoons while lows fall to or below on 58 mornings. }} ;Notes: Nicknamed "The Tall City", Midland has long been known for its downtown skyline. Most of downtown Midland's major office buildings were built during a time of major Permian Basin oil and gas discoveries. The surge in energy prices in the mid-1980s sparked a building boom downtown. For many years, the 22-story Wilco Building in downtown was the tallest building between Fort Worth and Phoenix. Today, the tallest is the 24-story Bank of America Building, at . Four buildings over tall were planned in the 1980s, including one designed by architect I.M. Pei. The great oil bust of the mid-1980s killed any plans for future skyscrapers. A private development group was planning to build Energy Tower at City Center, which was proposed to be 870 feet tall, with 59 floors (six floors underground and 53 above). If it had been built, it would have been Texas's sixth-tallest building. File:Bank of America Building, Midland, Texas.jpg|Midland's tallest building, the Bank of America Building File:MIDLAND TOWER,…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• White-winged Dove

  Zenaida asiatica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,462
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,682
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,466
• Great-tailed Grackle

  Quiscalus mexicanus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  3,262
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  3,198
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,729
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,304
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,245

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2026-10-05
  21 km NNW of Midland, Texas
• M 3.1 — 2026-09-30
  20 km WNW of Stanton, Texas
• M 2.8 — 2026-09-24
  32 km SW of Garden City, Texas
• M 3.2 — 2026-09-24
  32 km SW of Garden City, Texas
• M 2.7 — 2026-09-24
  31 km SW of Garden City, Texas
• M 2.7 — 2026-09-24
  30 km SW of Garden City, Texas