Permian Basin Petroleum Museum

Midland and its twin city, Odessa, are the centers for oil exploration in Texas, so it’sappropriate that the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum is here. You can see the museum from the interstate. It’s that red building at the Highway 349 exit with dozens of oil-field derricks beside it. Here your family will explore 500 million years of history, walk under a vast sea to view the Permian Basin as it was 230 million years ago, stroll through a typical boomtown, examine rock samples, learn how wells are drilled, and feel the force of an underground explosion. You’ll see everything from old cable tool rigs to modern pump jacks. The kids can even play the Oil Game and might hit a gusher. In addition to the petroleum paraphernalia, the museum also focuses on the Comanche War Trail, which passed through the heart of Midland, site of the last Comanche raid in Texas.