However, it is interesting to note the large section’s of red in West Texas. While the population was low, it was almost entirely urban. Unlike in the Eastern half of the state, which was dominated by agriculture, oil production (and extreme aridity) in West Texas promoted a population that lived in cities and towns and commuted to remote oilfield jobs, not sustained rural settlement.
The late 1930s boom continued into World War II. The cities of Midland and Odessa quickly became centers of commerce and industrial development. Increasingly, most people in the region lived in and around these two cities and traveled to temporary job sites in the surrounding counties. Aerial maps of both cities demonstrate population growth, and the expansion of oil exploration.