George W. Bush Childhood Home

A modest 1939 clapboard house on West Ohio Avenue, preserved and interpreted as a state historic site since 2006, now operated by the Texas Historical Commission. The Bush family lived here from 1951 to 1955, when George W. Bush was a young child and his father was working in the Permian Basin oil business. The house has been restored to its 1950s appearance and furnished with period pieces.

It is a surprisingly affecting visit — the smallness of the house, its ordinariness against the vast West Texas sky, and the knowledge of what the family would become all contribute to the effect. Guided tours walk through the rooms and explain the Bush family's connection to Midland.

1412 W Ohio Avenue, Midland, TX 79701. Wednesday–Saturday 10am–5pm, Sunday 1–5pm. Free admission.

things to do sight
A story
The house was purchased by George H.W. Bush in 1951 for $9,000 — a small clapboard house on a suburban street typical of post-war Midland. The family left in 1955 when the elder Bush moved to Houston to start Zapata Offshore Company. George W. Bush returned to Midland in the 1970s to try his hand at the oil business, living just a few miles from his childhood home. Both presidents came out of this flat, oil-soaked landscape.