Black Gold: Going Deeper Facts and Stats on truTV.com

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Odessa, TX

Odessa was founded in Texas in 1881, officially organized as a town in 1891 and incorporated in 1927.
The population was only 750 in 1925, but after oil was discovered in 1926, the population shot up to 5,000 within three years. During WWII the increased demand for oil swelled the population to 10,000. The estimated population in 2005 was 93,546.
While Midland is host to the oil companies and their white-collar employees, Odessa is a more blue-collar town and is home to many of the workers – including roughnecks – who make their living in the oilfield.
Odessa is spread out over Ector and Midland counties, but primarily centered in Ector County. It is 347 miles from Dallas, 494 miles from Houston and 336 miles from San Antonio, all of which are large oil areas. Odessa's total area is 36.9 square miles. The combined Midland-Odessa metropolitan area has a population around 260,000.
Odessa is known as the "City of Contrasts."
Odessa is one of the hottest areas for drilling is West Texas, with many companies exploring the Wolfcamp play, a geological formation that runs throughout the greater Midland-Odessa area. Black Gold follows the progress of different oilmen and roughnecks who all are looking for oil in Wolfcamp.

Midland, TX

Midland was originally dubbed Midway because of its location between Fort Worth and El Paso. The name was soon changed to Midland, however, to avoid confusion with other towns in Texas named Midway.
Orginally a small town based on farming and ranching, Midland was forever changed by the discovery of oil in the Permian Basin in 1923. Soon Midland was transformed into the administrative center of the West Texas oil fields.
Midland is the home to many independent oil companies and has the reputation as the place where deals get done. Today, the Permian Basin produces a fifth of the nation's total petroleum and natural gas output.
Midland is nicknamed "The Tall City."

Famous West Texas Residents & Locations

U.S. President George H. W. Bush, his wife, Barbara and their son President George W. Bush lived in Odessa and later Midland from 1948 to 1959. First Lady Laura Bush hails from Midland.
H.G. Bissinger wrote the best-selling book "Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream" after spending a year in West Texas chronicling the football team from Odessa's Permian High School. Much of the 2004 film based on the book was shot in Odessa as well. A TV show, also named "Friday Night Lights," is currently on NBC. It is loosely based on the book and movie and takes place in the fictional town of Dillon, TX.
Odessa is the hometown of former Texas Longhorns and current Detroit Lions wide receiver Roy Williams and former Oklahoma Sooner and Houston Oiler Daryl Hunt.
A portion of the Tommy Lee Jones movie "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" was filmed in Odessa.
Part of the Coen Brothers' Oscar-winning film "No Country For Old Men," also starring Tommy Lee Jones, is set in Odessa. The town is the home of character Llewellyn Moss' mother-in-law.

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