Orla

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, in my own words. Now, some towns come into the world with a grand plan and a brass band. Orla, out here in Reeves County, came into the world in 1890, planted right along the Pecos Valley Railroad, and for a while it looked like the kind of place that had a future with its boots on.

Land promotions brought people in, and those people needed things. So Orla got itself a school, general stores, a hotel, a livery stable. The whole outfit.

You could ride in on horseback, stable your animal, sleep in a proper bed, buy your goods, and send your kids to learn their letters. That's not nothing. That's a town.

And sitting out here as a gateway to Red Bluff Lake, the Guadalupe Mountains, Carlsbad Caverns, well, the scenery alone was enough to make a person feel like they'd landed somewhere worth landin'. But here's where the story takes that quiet, lonesome turn. The years went by, and Orla shed its people the way West Texas sheds rain, slowly, and then all at once.

Until by 1931 there was one merchant left, one postmaster, a man named Hal Olds, holding the whole thing together. And in 1931, Hal Olds did what a practical man does. He picked up and moved a quarter mile west, to where the new highway ran.

Just a quarter mile. But that quarter mile was the period at the end of Orla's sentence. The railroad had built it.

The highway finished the job. And Hal Olds, last man standing, followed the road.

What the marker says

Gateway to Red Bluff Lake, Guadalupe Mountains, Carlsbad Caverns recreational areas. Established 1890 on Pecos Valley Railroad. Developed during land promotions. Had school, general stores, hotel, livery stable. In 1931 remaining merchant and postmaster Hal Olds moved 1/4 mi. west to new highway. (1965)