The Bush family has deep roots in West Texas that started in Odessa in 1948.
George H.W. and Barbara Bush first arrived in Odessa in 1948. The last home they lived in while in Odessa was a modest house, less than 800 square feet, called a post-war house.
Former President George H.W. Bush has been quoted as saying “At Odessa we became Texans and proud of it.”
The home was renovated in 2004 and moved behind the JBS Presidential Leadership Library.
The living room was restored to its late 1940s appearance based on photos from the Bush Library at Texas A&M University. One bedroom featured a historical exhibit and the other children’s activities.
Today the restored home of the 41st and 43rd Presidents, George H.W. Bush and his son George W. Bush, and Barbara Bush has been authentically restored to look like Christmas morning 1948 when George W. was 2 years old. It was the family’s first Christmas away from their East Coast friends and family.
They came to Odessa to learn the oil business, the Presidential Archives and Leadership Library website details.
Then, in 1949, the family moved to California and returned to West Texas in Midland in the early 1950s where George W. Bush would later meet and marry Laura Bush.
The Bush family lived in two houses before moving into the Bush House. They lived at 1319 E. Seventh St., before moving down the street to 1523 E. Seventh St.
The family then moved to 916 E. 17th St., which is now the Bush House.
The family lived in three different homes in Midland before moving to Houston in 1958.
