Books by James Collett

Midland was a young farming and ranching community on the southern edge of the Llano Estacado when the real-photo postcard era began near the opening of the 20th century. Businesses, residents, and promoters embraced this new technology to produce images capturing Midland's unusual rural-and-cosmopolitan mix. As postcards changed to linen and chrome, Midland also underwent dramatic changes. The city on the plains worked hard to become an indispensable part of the vast 1920s Permian Basin oil industry. In post-World War II years, Midland grew into an urban center of West Texas, positioned strategically at the midpoint of Interstate 20's path from Fort Worth to El Paso.

Stamford arose almost overnight at the turn of the 20th century as a partnership between the Texas Central Railroad and the vast Swenson Brothers ranches. Businessmen, workers, and cattlemen began erecting the new community even before the railroad arrived in February 1901. The young city quickly became a commercial center with additional railroad connections, wholesale distributors, banks, brick-paved streets, small industries, a hospital, and the renowned Stamford Inn. Over the next two decades, farmers joined ranchers in developing the West Texas plains, and new businesses arose, along with a college and a Carnegie library. In 1930, a group of citizens formed the Texas Cowboy Reunion Association and began an annual celebration of ranch life that endures to the present day. Through changing times and fortunes, Stamford has maintained its role as an agricultural regional center and has preserved the heritage of its commercial and agrarian roots.