Oasis

Oasis was the original name of the Griffith community, located sixteen miles west of Morton on State Highway 114. The community is near the original headquarters of the Campbell Ranch.

H. D. Chipley, who had tried to establish the townsite of Chipley, surveyed the Oasis townsite and staked off streets in 1934. Chipley named the proposed town "Oasis," stating that "it would be a green place in the desert."

A store was established in 1934, and W. A. Dykes built a cotton gin in 1937, which he sold to Karl Griffith in 1946. At one point during the 1940s, Oasis was home to Spike Dykes, one of Texas Tech University's most popular coaches.

In 1950, the name was changed from Oasis to Griffith in honor of Karl Griffith, who had recently built a grain elevator there.

Oasis became known as Griffith in 1950. For the community under its later name, visit the Griffith history page.

Texas' Last Frontier: A New History of Cochran County by Elvis E. Fleming and David J. Murrah.