If you are looking for educational things to do in Odessa, the Presidential Library is a must-visit in a small town like Odessa. It’s located right next to the UTPB campus and is such a unique find for the Permian Basin. We spent a quiet afternoon exploring the exhibits, then walked over to see the Stonehenge replica and the Ellen Noël Art Museum right next door.What made our visit even better was the location. After soaking up the local culture and history at the museums, we walked just a few steps over to Por Ali Spa (location recommended to us), which is the only hotel spa in Odessa & so happy we did!It was the perfect West Texas Day Trip itinerary:1. Morning: History at the Presidential Archives. 2. Mid-day: Art at the Ellen Noël and photos at Stonehenge.3. Afternoon: Total relaxation with a massage and pedicure at the luxury spa nearby.The fact that these high-quality attractions are all within walking distance of each other made our stay in Odessa so much more enjoyable. If you’re visiting the university or just passing through West Texas, definitely carve out half a day for the museums and the other half for the only full-service luxury spa in the city. It was an unexpected and world-class experience!

The status of this Museum is confusing. It has been located in a few places over the years, and is temporarily housed in a building that is shared with the Noel Art Museum, which is also being renovated. It seems a new location is planned or being built? All that is here now is half a gallery of paintings of Presidents, some campaign buttons and knickknacks, and a collection of annual White House Christmas ornaments (it was the Christmas season when I visited).The Museum was housed at one time in the small house where GW Bush, Barbara Bush and George W Bush briefly lived. That house is just behind the Museum, which is pretty cool. Reason enough to visit this free site, but don’t expect much. Hopefully a larger new space will showcase more of the collection.

This museum is small, but amazing! They have gorgeous oil paintings of the Presidents and First Ladies! They have a rare set of wood mosaic portraits of the presidents which is outstanding! The portraits alone are worth a visit.Each president has a small collection of items from their time of service. It could be a campaign button, a coin, a bronze bust, etc. Each collection varies as it’s size is determined by donations given by others. [So if you have presidential memorabilia, this would be a great place to donate it.]Each presidential collection also includes a First Lady doll clothed in a replica dress.There is an amazing collection of presidential books in their library for research purposes.I highly recommend this to all who enjoy presidential history.

Unexpected to see this museum and library outside of DC. The exhibits in the galleries include a storyboard for each president and the important aspects of their terms, dolls dressed in exact replicas of the First Ladies gowns, and portraits of presidents and First Ladies and campaign memorabilia.The rug at the entrance is a copy of the one in the Oval Office during the Truman administration. There are 8 columns supporting the dome which represent the 8 presidents that died in office, 4 assassinated and 4 for health reasons. Extremely well done and docents are very knowledgeable to answer all of our questions.

This is not part of the Presidential Libraries but has some most intersting displays worthy of seeing if you are in the area. Much of the reproduced items were locally made or painted. The fellow who is the docent and is in charge, was most informative. The dolls of the first ladies were nicely done. The fellow who started the place was a Jaycee and JCI Senator as was my husband so reading about his accomplishments was great. Any time you can learn our nations history is a good day.