Odell is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Wilbarger County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States. According to the

Handbook of Texas The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

, the community had an estimated population of 131 in 2000.

Geography

Odell is located at . It is situated at the junction of Farm Roads 91, 432, and 2379 in northwestern Wilbarger County, approximately 15 miles northwest of Vernon. Wanderers Creek borders the community to the west.

History

The community was founded in 1908 as a railroad station on the

Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway, started in 1900 by American railroad entrepreneur Arthur Edward Stilwell, was the predecessor of the Chihuahua al Pacífico railroad in Mexico. It was intended to reach the Pacific Ocean at Topolob ...

. It was named after New York civil engineer J. T. Odell. Many of Odell's early residents came from Haulk, a nearby settlement. Upon the arrival of the railroad, a number of Haulk citizens were lured to a better location on land donated by T. H. Holloway. A post office was established on April 27, 1909. By 1919, thirty businesses were operating in Odell and the community thrived throughout the 1920s. In 1928, Odell was incorporated. The population was 424 at the 1930 census. Within a short time, however, the community began to decline. Several factors, including the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and a series of fires in the mid–1930s, accelerated the level of decline. The population fell to 301 in 1940, 238 in 1950, and 131 in 1960. Soon after, Odell reverted to the status of an unincorporated community. By the mid–1980s, a few stores and churches remained active in Odell. Cotton, cattle, grain, and oil formed the base of the local economy. Throughout the latter half of the twentieth century and into 2000, Odell was home to approximately 131 residents.

Education

Public education in the community of Odell is provided by the Chillicothe Independent School District.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Wilbarger County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas Former cities in Texas