This Week in Odessa History

Odessa in October 1905 was emerging from a business district of all wooden frame buildings to one with solid brick structures.

The second week in October, fire broke out in one of the new brick buildings and spread to some of the remaining frame store fronts, wiping out nearly a block of downtown businesses.

This account of Odessa’s greatest fire, one which threatened the entire town, appeared in The Record on October 11, 1905:

Odessa’s third and largest fire in history occurred just about midnight Monday. It started near the W.l. Smith building occupied by Gust Zabel, proprietor of the Rainie...