Oenaville

Oenaville is at the intersection of Farm roads 438 and 3369, six miles northeast of Temple in northeastern Bell County. C. D. Johnson started the community on Big Elm Creek by opening a store on the site in the late 1860s. When the community applied for a post office in 1872, Johnson named it Oenaville, probably after Miss Oena Griffin. By 1884 the town had 150 inhabitants, three churches, two mills and gins, two saloons, a cooperative association, and a school. At that time Oenaville shipped primarily cotton. Its population rose to 200 by 1890 and remained at about that level through the 1940s. By 1949 Oenaville had declined to 150 residents, five businesses, two churches, and a school. In 1990 the community reported 120 inhabitants and no rated businesses. The population remained the same in 2000.