Historical MarkerBaker Ranch School
Odessa · Ector County · Dedicated 1965 · THC Atlas #5135000280
The roadside stories worth pulling over for.
Marker Inscription
Since there were no public schools in rural Ector County, R.W. Smith and Teague Baker in 1906 erected an 8'x10' school building in Baker's pasture. They hired a teacher at $15 a month, plus room and board, which each furnished on alternate months. Ranch schools like this one taught not only children of ranchers, but also those of cowboys and nesters--small farmers coming west to homestead or to by land at nominal prices. Baker community later had a public school. Till the Permian Basin had good roads and buses, ranch schools served it well. (1965)
About this site
Baker Ranch School is a historical marker in Odessa, Ector County, dedicated in 1965. It is one of 37 historical markers documented in Ector County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 39 historic sites cataloged across the county.
The site sits at 32.0248, -102.4293 near Odessa. The nearest cataloged historic site is LeGrande Survey of 1833 (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Barrow Ranch House, El Paso Natural Gas Company's First Compressor Transmission Engine, and Permian Basin.
This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5135000280. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
