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Oil City, LA, Municipal Complex IMG 5205Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Oil City

Oil City’s post office opened in 1907, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Oil City was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listings are the Trees City Office and Bank Building and the Oil City School. Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 1950.

1907first post office
2on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Oil City began

When was Oil City founded?

1907

The Oil City post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Caddo (1849), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 422 in 19502020 census: 901119 years
Founding year: the first Oil City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Oil City’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Oil City are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,430 in 1960; 901 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Oil City’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oil City’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Oil City, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001960198020002020Peak: 1,430

Peaked at 1,430 in 1960; 901 people lived here in 2020.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oil City’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Oil City came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Oil City.

Read it all →

The park in Oil City is named for Earl Williamson. The local politician served for 40 years on the Caddo Parish police jury (1933 to 1972) and again from 1979 to 1980. He served as mayor of Vivian from 1938 to 1946, and again from 1962 to 1966.

In 2025, members of the Oil City community established a short-lived museum in the town’s old railroad depot with the intention of preserving artifacts and stories from the town’s past. On April 28th, 2025 the Louisiana Department of Cultural Resources invoked their ownership of the depot building and closed the Oil City Museum in response to mismanagement by the museum’s late site manager Wade Smith, who would later be fatally run over by a street sweeper.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Oil City, 1849 to 1960

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849Post officeThe Caddo post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1907Post officeThe Oil City post office opens
  5. 1930Post officeThe Caddo post office closes
  6. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 1,430
By decade

Oil City, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Oil City, Louisiana - On the Ball2011Oil City, Louisiana - On the BallOil City Restaurant sign2011Oil City Restaurant signAnother view of downtown Oil City, LA IMG 52142011Another view of downtown Oil City, LA IMG 5214December on the Red Christmas on Caddo2010December on the Red Christmas on CaddoDecember on the Red Christmas on Caddo - Queens of2010December on the Red Christmas on Caddo - Queens ofLAMap-doton-Oil City2004LAMap-doton-Oil City
On the map

Oil City on the map, 1948 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oil City. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Oil City on the 1948 USGS mapOil City on the 1982 USGS map1948Mooringsport sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Oil City.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Oil City

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1986
Trees City Office and Bank Building
Trees City Office and Bank BuildingOil City School
Buildings
Trees City Office and Bank BuildingBuilding
All 2 listings
Oil City SchoolBuilding · listed 2017

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Oil City

Nobody well known was born in Oil City itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Jared LetoAmerican actor, singer, musician and songwriter · b. 1971
George ForemanAmerican professional boxer · b. 1949
Scott JoplinAmerican composer, musician, pianist (1867/68-1… · b. 1867
Mike JohnsonSpeaker of the United States House of Represent… · b. 1972
Bessie ColemanAmerican aviator · b. 1892
Evelyn AshfordAmerican sprinter · b. 1957
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Oil City’s post office has been open since 1907. Another post office, Caddo, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Caddo
1849–1930
Oil City
1907–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Caddo

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Oil City’s history

What year was Oil City founded?

The Oil City post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Oil City?

Two places: the Trees City Office and Bank Building (listed 1986) and the Oil City School (2017).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.