Orla, Texas. Population 2, plus some dufus tourists and in 1930 on a return route from Alaska

Zip Code 79770.

Orla is in that western part of Texas that pokes into New Mexico. Orla is in Reeves County, about 40 miles north of Pecos. Wikipedia says, “It is believed to have two residents.” Yep. Two.

The Handbook of Texas online disagrees somewhat with Wikipedia.

“From 1970 through 2000 its population was reported at 183, and it had variously anywhere from one to sixteen businesses.”

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HLO21

Pictures at https://anygivensundry.wordpress.com/2012/09/10/orla-texas/ lend agreement more with Wikipedia, although I question the veracity of someone who says, “We were in no way comforted by the appearance of a big suspicious looking Haliburton truck.” It’s an oil field or gas field service truck, dufus. Remember where you are. Just because you see a truck marked “Haliburton,” doesn’t mean there’s a secret Blackwater training/concentration camp nearby. Some people are just downright stupid.

Two oil field workers were killed and nine injured in a pressure explosion near Orla in April 2014.

http://www.currentargus.com/ci_25664078

Satellite image: http://www.mapquest.com/maps?zipcode=79770

Nearby towns: Red Bluff, Angeles, Riverton and Robinson Arms Landing. From the last two, you might conclude Orla is near a body of water or a river. Well, sort of, if the Pecos River counts. Red Bluff Reservoir is a few miles north.

On Aug. 17, 1930, Lawrence Lombard and Frederick Blodgett left Boston, Mass., in a de Haviland Gypsy Moth named “Flit.” The two men flew across the U.S. to Seattle and then up the coast to Juneau, Alaska, arriving on Aug. 29. The return trip took the pair all the way to San Diego. From Gila Bend, Ariz., Lombard and Blodgett set course for Roswell, N. M., but the Gypsy Moth was blown off course, causing an emergency landing near Orla on Sept. 15. The pilots landed in Boston on Sept. 19, after flying 12,000 miles.

http://generalaviationnews.com/2010/09/15/an-aerial-adventure/