OLIN
Olin was a
business center about 1900, and is twelve miles north of Hamilton, about
half way between Hico and Hamilton on HWY 281. Automobiles
caused the demise of the turn-of-the century business district leaving
only a school community and finally only a church. Mr. Erastus
Kimber Ridenhower, a rancher, who owned the land, named Olin
for his son when a post office was established.
Erastus Kimber Ridenhower
and his wife, Orpha Jane Blackman Ridenhower arrived in Hamilton
County in a heavy snowstorm in 1877. In 1879 they purchased all of the
land now at the intersection of HWY 281 and FM 219 (the Carlton
Road).
Mr. Ridenhower donated land in the northeast corner of the
intersection to be a post office which he named for his son, Olin.
He also designated land for a Methodist Church and a Baptist
Church--land on which the Olin Baptist Church is located.
T. T. Gordon
had a cotton gin and a mercantile store at Olin. The Olin Post
Office opened 22 January, 1898, with Robert F. McKeage as
postmaster. On January 15, 1908, Olin Post Office closed and mail
was moved to Hico.
OLIN,
TX." The Handbook of Texas Online
SEAGO
