Early settler R.D. Moore conveyed 320 acres of land to the International Construction Co., also called the Orient Land Co., of Kansas City, Missouri, for a town site along the Panhandle Gulf Railway in September 1902. Probably named for Orient executive W.H. Hamlin, the community was organized in 1905, the same year it received its first post office. The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway reached Hamlin in 1906, and the Hamlin Herald was first printed that same year. Hamlin was incorporated as a town and a school system was established in 1907. By autumn 1908, Hamlin had grown to more than one thousand citizens as more railroads reached the area. It quickly became a major shipping point, with an economy based on agriculture and the railroad. Business operations included cotton compresses, a cotton oil mill, an ice plant, a cement and plaster plant, a grain elevator, several cotton gins, an electric generating plant, an ice cream factory and bottling works, and a telephone company. Early churches included Church of Christ, Baptist, Methodist, and Church of the Nazarene. A movie theatre opened in 1907, and Central Nazarene College was established in 1909. The Oscar DePriest School System for African American students began operation in 1925. Oil was discovered near Hamlin in 1928, broadening economic growth with oil and gas exploration. In 1950, the town's population was 3,564. The school system was integrated in 1965. Hamlin's population in 1990 was 2,791. At the dawn of the 21st century, Hamlin remained a center for farming and varied manufacturing.