Site of The Odessa Sanitarium

Duane's take

The official marker tells this story, and here's how I'd lay it out for you. Way out in West Texas, in the town of Odessa, somebody had a vision. The year was 1886, and the Odessa Townsite Company decided this raw, wind-scoured place needed something civilized: a genuine medical and surgical sanitarium.

They brought in a man who knew his way around the sick and suffering, a Dr. R.E. Haughton, a former railroad physician all the way from Indiana.

And they didn't put him in a tent, either. They set him up in a two-story wooden structure, twenty rooms, which for Odessa in 1886 was practically a palace. Now here's where you lean in a little closer, because that grand vision had a short fuse.

By March of 1890, the whole project had failed. Dr. Haughton packed his bags and moved to Midland.

And that big twenty-room wooden building? It became a haven for migrant families. A portion of it was even pressed into service as a church.

So in the span of just a few years, that building had been a hospital, a home, and a house of worship. But the story wasn't done with it yet. In January of 1891, Ector County was created.

And somebody looked at that old sanitarium sitting there and figured it still had one more life to live. The building was moved several blocks, and just like that, the former medical sanitarium became the first Ector County Courthouse. A place built for healing ended up holding court.

You just can't write that kind of thing.

What the marker says

Established in 1886 by Odessa Townsite Company, the Odessa medical and surgical sanitarium was directed by Dr. R.E. Haughton, a former railroad physician from Indiana. It was located in a two-story wooden structure of twenty rooms. By March 1890 the project had failed. Dr. Haughton moved to Midland. The building became a have for migrant families. A portion was used as a church. When Ector County was created in January 1891, the sanitarium was moved several blocks and became the first Ector County Courthouse. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967.