Olney's Claim to Fame

Pardon our boasting, but our town has several distinctions that set it apart from so many other West Texas towns.

• Olney still holds the record for the most Eagle Scouts (Boy Scouts) at one time (22 under the leadership of Freddie Dunagan and others).
• Olney was voted Blue Ribbon City because of our ability to maintain our town's beauty and streets.
• Movie: The Last Picture Show with Cybil Shepherd. The actual movie theater in the movie was filmed in Olney which is only 18 miles from Archer City.
• The airport, where Air Tractor is located, has 3 long runways, recently renovated, which were built during WWII as an alternative area for Wichita Fall's Shepard Air Force Base's bombers to land. One strip is almost a mile long, lighted and has 24 hour radio contact. In the month of September, Air Acrobatics teams (Olympic hopefuls and winners alike) come to Olney to practice their loops, dives and other in-air maneuvers.
• Olney was chosen for a pilot program which was most successful - a joint community/school library which is still equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for students and town citizens alike, a vast selection of books and other reading materials and so much more.
• 5 miles outside our town is the world's longest horizontal satellite antenna (U.S. Navy's Navstar), the site chosen because it is half way between the East and West boundaries of our country.
• In the 70's Olney made national news when the water supply dried up because of drought. The town's people pooled their efforts and laid a pipeline, working 3days and nights, in 117 degree temperatures to bring much needed water to the Olney.
• The Gatlin Brothers used to sing in one of Olney's local church as children when they came here to visit their Grandma.
• One of the most unusual and unique gatherings each year in Olney is the One Arm Dove Hunt (not the birds - the hunters). First Friday and Saturday after Labor Day, hand and arm amputees (and their families) from close and far come to Olney to compete in One Arm pool tournaments, golf tournaments, skeet shoots, an auction, great comradery and, of course a few hours of dove hunting. The two Jacks keep things hopping with their antics and great sense of humor - click on the site for more information on this event.

There are neighboring towns that also have wonderful legacies

• Newcastle and Fort Belknap are south of Olney,


• Graham to the southeast,


• Wichita Falls is north, and Archer City (Famed for the Last Picture Show and Larry McMurtry who wrote Lonesome Dove and now has world-known book stores in Archer City) is to the north on the way to Wichita Falls.

So many places to visit while you're here!

All that and so much more - not bad for a small, unknown town, huh!

Every day is a new adventure - you can hear the jingle of spurs of a dust-covered cowboy as he doffs his sweat-banded Stetson hat to you and then visit with a designer of a state-of-the art firefighting airplane.

Truly a place of contrasts and choices - Always an Adventure