Ector County: Theater, History and Art

The historic Globe Theatre is a West Texas landmark, inspired by Shakespeare’s original Elizabethan playhouse. Ector County also offers cultural venues, local history, art and cycling; seasonal events provide additional time-specific opportunities. When planning your trip, you can choose between a cultural program, an outdoor activity and a specific event-focused visit.

Theater, Art and Cultural Venues

The Globe Theatre has 410 seats and hosts theatrical performances, concerts and special events for students and the community; each year, it presents a season featuring student and community productions, concerts and special events. The Ector Theatre offers live entertainment in Odessa. A display is on permanent view in the Keith Family Gallery at the Ellen Noël Art Museum. The Odessa Spire is a public artwork that rises more than 112 feet above the city.

History in Ector County and Odessa

The Historic White-Pool House is the oldest surviving building in Ector County and represents Odessa’s pioneer era and oil boom. The Parker House Ranching Museum is an important historic museum building dating from 1935. George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush lived in the Bush Home in the late 1940s. Together, these places point to different chapters of regional history.

Odessa’s development also provides a timeline: the city first developed as a cattle-shipping center before oil was discovered in 1926. The Stonehenge Replica on the UT Permian Basin campus in Ector County is another cultural point of interest. Art faculty members built it in 2004; it became a gathering place for students and community members. The Odessa Meteor Crater is in southwest Ector County.

Cycling at Odessa Mountain Bike Park

Odessa Mountain Bike Park offers more than 11 miles of marked trails across 95 acres of leased land. The trails are designed for beginners, intermediate riders and experts. If cycling is part of your travel plans, the stated trail length and difficulty levels offer specific guidance for this part of your stay.

Plan Around Seasonal Events

Ector County Coliseum hosts sporting events, concerts and large exhibitions each year on its 42-acre grounds. The Odessa Jackalopes play hockey there from October through March. Check current dates and the team’s schedule before planning a visit around a game.

The SandHills Stock Show and Rodeo takes place in Odessa every January. January therefore falls within the Jackalopes’ playing season; however, the rodeo and hockey are different reasons to plan a trip. The Permian Basin Fair & Expo has been a tradition since 1976. The fairgrounds host livestock shows featuring award-winning animals, as well as exhibits of creative work that have been awarded blue ribbons.

Odessa in a Regional Cultural Context

Beyond individual venues, there is also a connection to cultural tourism: through Texas Historical Commission initiatives, Odessa promotes visits to museums and other historic sites along the regional Pecos Heritage Trail. This places Ector County’s specific themes alongside a regional approach to discovering history and cultural sites.

Discover more destinations: Odessa, Hopkins, Wheeler County, Lubbock, Collin, Brazos, Williamson, Goliad County

For the main travel overview: Texas.