The Nita Stewart Haley Memorial Library and History Center is Midland's repository for West Texas history, holding one of the most significant archives of material related to the cattle industry, oil exploration, and frontier life in the region. J. Evetts Haley, Texas historian and rancher, amassed the collection over decades; the library now holds thousands of photographs, manuscripts, and documents covering the era from the open range cattle drives through the early oil boom.
For anyone seriously interested in the history of this part of Texas — or in Western American history more broadly — the library is worth a visit. The photography archive alone, documenting ranching life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is extraordinary. The facility is modest but the holdings are genuine.