Ector County, Texas

Ector County [†] was named for Confederate General Matthew Duncan Ector, Commander of the noted Ector's Brigade and an attorney during the Civil War Era. Matthew D. Ector was born in Putnam County, Georgia, in 1822. He was educated at Center College, Kentucky, and admitted to practice law in Georgia in 1844. He came to Texas in 1847 at the age of 25.

The first visitors to Ector County were in the 1500's, when three Spanish Conquistadors traveled through the area and found Indians of the Jumanos tribe residing here. In the 1700's, Ector County was part of the Comanche War Trail and home for herds of wild buffalo. 1849 found families headed for the California Gold Rush traveling through the County.

In July, 1881, the citizens of many West Texas communities celebrated the centennial of the coming of the railroad to this area. One of these communities, between Fort Worth and El Paso, was Ector County. Early in July 1881, the Texas and Pacific Company extended the transcontinental railroad system through the isolated territory of western Tom Green County. Approximately 296 miles west of Fort Worth, the labor crews built a one-story frame house in what is now known as Odessa. This section house, No. 163, was to be used for housing of maintenance laborers and as a storehouse for railroad equipment. The Texas and Pacific Company build such structures every ten miles along the route to insure adequate upkeep on its investment. Population around the area was scarce, but as was the case with most of the southwestern United States, the people followed the railroad.

† Historic of Ector County, www.odessahistory.com, accessed August, 2021.