right|thumb|Downtown Oil City

right|thumb|The Trees City Office and Bank (built 1901) was relocated from the former boom town of Trees City, to Oil City, Louisiana, in 1983. It is included on the [[National Register of Historic Places.]]

Oil City is a small town in Caddo Parish, Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, Oil City had a population of 901. Oil City is located on Louisiana Highway 1, north of Caddo Lake. It is part of the Shreveport–Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area .

History

The park in Oil City is named for Earl Williamson. The local politician served for 40 years on the Caddo Parish police jury (1933 to 1972) and again from 1979 to 1980. He served as mayor of Vivian from 1938 to 1946, and again from 1962 to 1966.

In 2025, members of the Oil City community established a short-lived museum in the town’s old railroad depot with the intention of preserving artifacts and stories from the town’s past. On April 28th, 2025 the Louisiana Department of Cultural Resources invoked their ownership of the depot building and closed the Oil City Museum in response to mismanagement by the museum’s late site manager Wade Smith, who would later be fatally run over by a street sweeper.

left|thumb|The Louisiana State Oil and Gas Museum was pushed to completion by the late [[Louisiana State Legislature|State Representative Roy M. Hopkins of Oil City.]]

John Charles "Chip" Dickey, Jr., the mayor from 2005 until his death in office in 2016 at the age of sixty, pushed for economic ventures, including the community center and restaurants. He was an ordained minister and led various youth camps. Dickey's father, John Charles Dickey, Sr., was the Oil City mayor from 1968 to 1976.

Geography

Oil City is located in northwestern Caddo Parish. Downtown Shreveport is to the southeast along Louisiana Highway 1, and Vivian is to the north.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Oil City has a total area of , of which is land and , or 3.45%, is water.

Demographics

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"

|+Oil City racial composition as of 2020

!scope="col"| Race

!scope="col"| Number

!scope="col"| Percentage

|-

!scope="row"| White (non-Hispanic)

| 450

| 49.94%

|-

!scope="row"| Black or African American (non-Hispanic)

| 373

| 41.4%

|-

!scope="row"| Native American

| 6

| 0.67%

|-

!scope="row"| Asian

| 2

| 0.22%

|-

!scope="row"| Pacific Islander

| 1

| 0.11%

|-

!scope="row"| Other/Mixed

| 53

| 5.88%

|-

!scope="row"| Hispanic or Latino

| 16

| 1.78%

|-

!scope=“row”| Wade

| 1

| 0.1%

|}

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 901 people, 406 households, and 220 families residing in the town. As of the census of 2000, there were 1,219 people, 480 households, and 311 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 542 housing units at an average density of .

In 2000, the racial makeup of the town was 55.13% White, 44.05% African American, 0.08% Native American, and 0.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latinos of any race were 1.72% of the population. By 2020, the racial and ethnic makeup was 49.94% non-Hispanic white, 41.4% Black or African American, 0.67% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 5.88% multiracial, and 1.78% Hispanic or Latino of any race. making it one of the poorest rural communities in Louisiana.

Education

It is in the Caddo Parish School District.

Notable people

  • Earl Holliman, Golden Globe-winning film and TV actor
  • Roy McArthur "Hoppy" Hopkins (1943–2006) member of the Louisiana House of Representatives

References

  • Town of Oil City official website