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History in
a Seashell
In 1824 the site
was granted to Joseph H. Polley and Samuel Chance and was first called
Chance’s Prairie. Three miles S of Chance’s Prairie was Old
Ocean Lake. William B. Sweeny, the namesake of Sweeny, Texas arrived
in the county in 1832. He and his family and a huge number of slaves
(estimated at 250) settled on land adjoining Polley and Chance's grant.
Sweeny bought over 2,300 acres of land from the partners for less
than $1 an acre.
After the Civil War, a post office was set up in the John Sweeny’s
plantation’s commissary. Despite the number of people in the region,
Chance's Prairie had only 18 residents in 1880. In the mid 1930s oil
was discovered and a federal refinery was built. It was called Old
Ocean, and the name was adopted by the community in 1936. After
WWII the refinery
closed.
By 1947 the population had risen to 800 residents and in the mid 1960s
it surpassed 1,000, declining to 900 by the early 1970s. The figure
of 915 residents has been used from the 1970s through the 2000 census. |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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