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History · Petrolia

Petrolia’s post office opened in 1904, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

1904first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
2famous people
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Quick answers

How Petrolia began

When was Petrolia founded?

1904

The Petrolia post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 514122 years
Founding year: the first Petrolia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Petrolia’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 Petrolia are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Petrolia’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Petrolia’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Petrolia, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Petrolia yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Petrolia is a city in Clay County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Wichita Falls, Texas, metropolitan statistical area. Its population was 514 at the 2020 census, down from 686 at the 2010 census.

Its first post office opened in 1904. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 686 to 514 (-25%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Petrolia, 1904 to 1912

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904Post officeThe Petrolia post office opens
  3. 1911Born hereReed Hadley is born here
  4. 1912Born hereRay Harrell is born here
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

2 famous people were born in Petrolia

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Reed HadleyAmerican actor · b. 1911
R
Ray HarrellMajor League Baseball pitcher · b. 1912

Questions about Petrolia’s history

What year was Petrolia founded?

The Petrolia post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.