Olton is located north of
Lubbock between
Muleshoe and
Plainview 0n US 70 in
Lamb County.
When the town was incorporated in 1930 it had a population of 300, three cotton gins, and other businesses. The population was 782 in 1940. The citizens of Littlefield tried repeatedly to make their larger town county seat-in 1929, 1932, and 1937-before succeeding in 1946.
Despite this setback Olton continued to grow. Its population reached 1,917 in 1960. In 1965 a low-cost housing project was built, and in 1966 the town had four schools, thirteen churches, a bank, a hospital, a library, and a newspaper. The number of businesses was seventy-eight in 1970, when the population was 1,782. The 1980 population was 2,235. In 1990 it was 2,116.