Notrees, on State Highway 302 twenty-one miles northwest of Odessa in west central Ector County, had one native tree before construction of a large Shell gas plant forced its removal. Grocer Charlie Brown started his store in 1946, became the first postmaster later that year, and provided the town's name. Notrees served the TXL oilfield of the Permian Basin. By 1956 the town had ten oil company camps and a population of more than 500, served by a school, a recreation hall, a liquor store, two grocery stores, and several other businesses. Later the camps closed and many oil workers moved away, but in the 1980s the community still existed, amidst recent growths of mesquite and other trees. The population of Notrees was reported as 338 in 1980 and 1990.

Handbook of Texas Online - Notrees, TX

Post Office established 1944 in drug store of C. J. Brown, Jr., who named it in response to U.S. Postoffice Dept. request for title suitable to locality. Residents have since made history by planting shade trees. Now production hub of permian basin; center of gas processing industry, and home of Otto's boys ranch. 1965.

Historical Marker Text, located at SH 302, Notrees. 

Located 22 miles northwest of Odessa, Texas, on State Highway 302 in western Ector County. The community developed after the discovery of oil in TX Field on 31 December 1944. The community was known at various times as Caprock, TX, and Strawberry before Charles E. Brown, a local merchant, petitioned for a post office and selected the descriptive name of Notrees. Reportedly, the town had one native tree before it was destroyed in the construction of a gasoline plant by Shell Oil Company. The post office opened 04 December 1946 and Brown served as the first postmaster. At that time the town consisted of two cafes, one gas station, two welding shops, Brown's grocery store, three company houses, and 85 people. The area thrived as new horizons were added to TX Field in the 1950s and Notrees continued to serve the oil industry as those horizons were developed in the 1960s and 1970s. Population remained at 85 until 1966 when 338 residents were reported. Over the years, Notrees was the site for ten oil company camps, a grade school, and a recreation hall. The number of businesses fluctuated from seven in the late 1950s to one in the mid-1980s. By the 1980s oil companies abandoned company camps that had provided housing for employees and their families. With improved roads and good transportation, workers were able to live in Odessa and drive to work in Notrees. In 1998 Notrees had many trees, but was still closely tied to oil production. At that time it reported a population of 338, served by four businesses and its post office (zip code 79759). Sources: State Department of Highways and Public Transportation, General Highway Map of Ector County, Texas, revised 01 Nov 1986; Wylene Kirk, “Early Post Offices and Towns in the Permian Basin Area,” in The Texas Permian Historical Annual 1:1 (Aug 1961), 11-21; Robert L. Phifer, Petroleum Review: Ector County, Texas (Houston: Phifer Petroleum Publications, 1955), 8-13; Kathleen E. St. Clair and Clifton R. St. Clair, Little Towns of Texas (Jacksonville, TX: by authors, 1982), 657-658; 1947-1948 Texas Almanac, page 144 listed Notrees for first time; 1949-1950 Texas Almanac, 116; 1956-1957 Texas Almanac, 150; 1966-1967 Texas Almanac, 150; 1980-1981 Texas Almanac, 202; 1984-1985 Texas Almanac, 361; 1998-1999 Texas Almanac, 311; John Clements, Flying the Colors: Texas Facts, 5th ed. (Dallas: Clements Research, Inc., 1988), 218.

Notrees, Texas from Texas Escapes

Photos of Notrees from Odessahistory.com

Notrees from mapquest.com

Notrees map from the USGS