When settlers began taking up claims along the Brazos River and venturing away from the areas where they had clustered during the Civil War , no thought was given to the great stretch of land in northern Young County. It was prairie, and prairie was not considered farm land, least of all the best farm land in the county. Cattle roamed the range at will and gradually cattle-men began erecting small cabins to live in while on roundup.

As the 1870s came into history, it found several young enterprising cattlemen in this section. They had bought some land, built some houses and built a frame house or two. G.M. Benson had his ranch located eight miles east of the present site of Olney. At the last of the 1880s, there were several families: the Lebermans, Kunkels, Junkers, and Donald Payne in possession of land here.

G.W. Groves bought a great stretch of land for his cattle interests, and joining him settled J.W. Hutchings and J.T. Hunt. These men had vision of a city, and together they worked toward it. Mr. Groves donated a site for a town and soon J.M. Brisco arrived and built a store. These men presented a petition to the U.S. Post Office Department, and it was accepted, on the terms that someone carry the mail north of Olney for the first months.

Still the town did not have a name. Mr. Hutchings and Mr. Groves went to Farmer to talk it over with the postmaster there. While they were there, their eyes fell on a newspaper. Although the paper was several days old, it made no difference. The headlines stated: R.L. Mills, U.S. Senator from Texas, has invaded the Republican stronghold and will make a speech on campaign issues at Olney, Illinois. R.L. Mills was of importance to Texas and the men decided that if Senator Mills was going to speak at Olney, Illinois, this little town on the prairie in Texas was worth being named Olney. So it became Olney, Texas.

Cowboys found this a good place to secure their tobacco and weekly purchases, and on Saturday nights the town had a large population. But Olney was only a small cowtown until the arrival of the railroads. This happened in 1904 when a rail was laid through Olney, and another rail was laid in 1910.

With railroads, Olney was well qualified for a boom. This happened in 1924 when oil was discovered.

In 1911, Ralph Shuffler, established the Olney Enterprise, and boosted this section of the county as it never had been before. Through his editorials and business ability, the Enterprise became the best weekly newspaper in Northwest Texas, and it was the winner of a loving cup given by the Texas Press Association three years in succession.

The First National Bank was established in 1907 and the City National Bank in 1922. These two were consolidated in 1934 and the capital and deposits ran well into millions.

Dr. George B. Hamilton gave the city its hospital and a hotel as a means of maintenance for the former so that these patients unable to pay could always be served. In 1930 the population was 5,000. Paved streets ran across the once
empty prairie, trains and airplanes are heard where once only cattle were heard