OIL CITY, TEXAS (Young County). Oil City, also known as Grimshaw, was ten miles south of Graham in southeastern Young County. It was built during the beginning of the county's oil industry and was originally named for Amos Grimshaw, on whose land oil was discovered. Although the discovery well was brought in in 1917, the settlement did not boom until the 1920s. In October 1921 Oil City was recorded as a town; it had a population of 1,500 within a few weeks. Its city lots were selling for $1,000. By 1925 only 200 residents remained there, and by 1927, none. The community had a post office, called Grimshaw, from 1922 to 1925. Henry Schlittler, Sr., transported both mail and passengers over roads occasionally made nearly impassable during heavy rains. After the town's demise a few oil derricks were left to mark the site.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Carrie J. Crouch, Young County: History and Biography (Dallas: Dealey and Love, 1937; rev. ed., A History of Young County, Texas, Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1956). Young County Federation of Women's Clubs, Scrapbook of Young County (Graham, Texas?, 194-?).
