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Downtown
Olney mural depicting oil boom
Photo courtesy Mike Price, 2007 |
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History in
a Pecan Shell
The community is said to be named after Grover Cleveland's Secretary
of State or some incident of local interest that occurred at Olney,
Illinois.
The town was settled around 1880 as a central location for local
ranchers who held their annual round-up. In 1889 two acres of land
were donated for a townsite, and soon after a post office was granted
and a store was built.
In 1891 the community established a school and the Wichita Falls
and Southern Railway arrived in 1909. The railroad caused the town
to shift its location one mile north. In 1910 Olney became a two
railroad town with the arrival of the Gulf, Texas and Western railroad.
Oil was discovered
in 1923 and Olney became a boom town when huge reserves were found
in '24. Three refineries opened and the population of Olney swelled
to 5,000 by 1930. Railroad service was cut off during WWII
and never reestablished. A tornado struck the community in 1951
causing extensive damage, injuring 75 and killing two.
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Another
mural depicting oil boom
Photo courtesy Mike Price, 2007 |
Olney
Bank architectural detail
Photo courtesy Mike Price, 2007 |
Olney
Bank building
Photo courtesy Mike Price, 2007 |
Hamilton
Hotel
Photo courtesy Mike Price, 2007 |
The
old water tower
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2005 |
Olney
water tower
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2005 |
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