History
The area's first settlers were German families during the late 1840s. The community's name is either an alteration of a Mr. Othneil – the area's first gristmill owner, or a supposed translation of the name Habermill (Haber being a German dialect word for Hafer, "oats"). A post office was established in 1853 under the name Oatmeal. The first schoolhouse opened in 1858, only to be replaced by a second building eleven years later. A gin built in the 1870s continued to serve as a local landmark into the early 1900s. A cemetery was deeded in 1871, although burials were recorded in the area as early as 1854.
In 1936, Oatmeal had a school, two churches, and scattered dwellings. By 1990, the population was around twenty – consisting mostly of families engaged in farming and ranching. That figure remained the same in 2000.
Read more about this topic: Oatmeal, Texas
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