Odessa, Texas: Permian Basin Stonehenge

A replica of Stonehenge, 70 percent the size of England's moldy original, is nicely maintained at the university entrance. Completed in 2004.

Cool to see. Not an actual replica, but still worth a quick visit!

Stoneworkers Connie and Brenda Edwards, owners of TexaStone, Garden City, TX, created the astronomically configured Stonehenge replica for the University of Texas Permian Basin in Odessa. Some of the limestone pieces are 19-ft. tall. It is 70% of the vertical dimensions of the original, but exact in horizontal size.

Even with handiwork across the United States and Hawaii, Edwards said he would be happy just building replicas of Stonehenge. He prefers monolithic constructions and built a castle wall in three days while his wife was away. "If she were gone another day I might have built a town," he quipped.

"The Stonehenge replica at U.T. Permian Basin is just a magnificent geometric concept," said Stonehenge Coordinator Dick Gillham. "It will be invaluable for students to study art, art history, geology, and mathematics."

Chris Stanley, UTPB Chair of Fine Arts and Humanities, has envisioned a large sculpture park for the university for years. "Stonehenge is going to be amazing to have here for a lot of reasons," he said. "It's like a very large version of the Farmer's Almanac indicating harvest times, and a lunar calendar. The stones from the local quarry also offer geology students fossil records of the Permian Basin, since the entire replica will consist of indigenous materials."

Odessans witnessing the stones going up have commented that it will be another reason for travelers to stop and visit the Permian Basin.

Odessa's Stonehenge was finished this summer. Sidewalks and landscaping were completed and a dedication was conducted Sept. 27, 2004.

Officials at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, Odessa, Texas, have approved a plan to build a Stonehenge replica on its campus. The replica will be fashioned from limestone at nearly full-size....