DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at 1412 West Ohio in Midland has to say — and friend, this one's got more history packed into a single address than most towns see in a lifetime. Now, it's 1948, and a young man named George H. W.
Bush loads up his family and heads to Texas. With him comes his wife Barbara — future First Lady of the United States, mind you — and their young son, little George W. Bush.
Their first stop isn't Midland. It's Odessa. And George H.
W. Bush, future President of the United States, punches in as an equipment clerk for the International Derrick and Equipment Company, pulling down three hundred and seventy-five dollars a month. Not exactly the trappings of the Oval Office.
But a man's got to start somewhere. The next year he gets promoted to salesman and the family transfers to California. But Texas has a way of pulling people back.
The Bushes return in 1950, and this time they put down roots in Midland, buying a home on East Maple Street — a road folks had taken to calling Easter Egg Row, on account of all those pastel-colored houses lining the block. Now George H. W.
Bush is a man who doesn't sit still long. In 1951, he and his neighbor and friend John Overbey go into business together, founding the Bush-Overbey Oil Development Company. Two years later, in 1953, they join forces with Bill and Hugh Liedtke to form a brand new venture — Zapata Petroleum.
And the drilling starts paying off. Enough so that the family can afford something bigger, something more fitting for a growing household. They land here, at 1412 West Ohio.
And it is here, at this address, where the story picks up everything — the joy and the grief both. While the family lived in this house, their daughter Robin was tragically stricken with leukemia. She died on October 11, 1953 — two months shy of her fourth birthday.
You sit with that a moment. A family building something remarkable, and loss walking right through the front door. The marker doesn't rush past it, and neither will I.
But life at 1412 West Ohio kept moving. The Bushes' third child, Jeb, was born in this very house. And young George W. — that same boy who'd come to Texas as a toddler in 1948 — walked each morning from this doorstep to Sam Houston Elementary School just down the way.
In 1956, the family moved into a larger home at 2703 Sentinel Drive. By 1959, they'd made the move to Houston. But the story doesn't leave Midland behind.
Come the mid-1970s, George W. Bush — future governor of Texas — finds his way back to this same town to launch his own career in the oil industry. And in 1977, right here in Midland, he meets a Midland native named Laura Welch, future first lady of Texas.
They get married that same year. One address in West Texas. Two future presidents walked out of it.
Two future first ladies called it connected. And somewhere in between, a whole American story unfolded — ordinary and extraordinary all at once, the way the best Texas stories tend to be.
What the marker says
George H. W. Bush, future President of the United States, moved to Texas in 1948 with his wife, Barbara, future First Lady, and their young son, George W., to begin work as an equipment clerk for the International Derrick & Equipment Company in Odessa, earning $375 per month. He was promoted to salesman the next year and transferred to California. The Bushes returned to Texas in 1950 and bought a home in Midland on East Maple Street, a street nicknamed "Easter Egg Row" for its pastel colored houses. Bush and his neighbor and friend, John Overbey, founded the Bush-Overbey Oil Development Company in 1951. They joined with Bill and Hugh Liedtke in 1953 to form a new company, Zapata Petroleum. Drilling success helped Bush afford this larger home for his family here at 1412 West Ohio. While the family lived here their second child, Robin, was tragically stricken with leukemia; she died on October 11, 1953, two months shy of her fourth birthday. The Bushes' third child, Jeb, was born here. From here, George W. walked to neighboring Sam Houston Elementary School. The family moved into a larger home at 2703 Sentinel Drive in 1956 and moved to Houston in 1959. During the mid-1970s George W. Bush, future governor of Texas, returned to Midland to start his own career in the oil industry. In 1977 he met and married Midland native Laura Welch, future first lady of Texas. (1998)