photo by Texas Bob, with permission
When you talk about Stonehenge in Texas you have to specify which one. There are two–that is, two that are well-known–in the Lone Star State: one of stone and one we’ll get to another day. The Odessa Stonehenge, shown above, seems to us the nicer of the two.
Built in 2004 of limestone slabs, the monument is truer to the original than many and great care was taken in aligning it. As this article says, “The replica is across the street from society’s monuments of Home Depot, OfficeMax and Starbucks.” Note the Texas flag waving behind the stones.
More nice pictures of Odessa’s Stonehenge can be seen here (winter comes even to Texas) and here (as does the moody dusk). While its proportions are a little off and the replacement of one slab with two detracts from the look a little, this is a remarkably impressive monument to be stuck in suburban America. Some replica builders could learn much from it. Score: 8 druids!
You can see it on Google Street View here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=odessa,+tx+stonehenge&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=48.77566,79.013672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Stonehenge+Rd,+Odessa,+Ector,+Texas+79765&t=h&layer=c&cbll=31.891616,-102.325793&panoid=qu5mcC4i9ZmVtBmZstscFg&cbp=12,295.46,,0,5&ll=31.891879,-102.326666&spn=0.003216,0.006866&z=18
I enjoy the Stonehenge replica we have here. I just wish it was the same size as the original.
One cool thing about it though, is that it lines up with certain celestial events.
It’s a great place to take a walk or have a picnic. The entire campus of the University of Texas of the Permain Basin, where the replica is located, is nice.