Black Springs. Settled before the Civil War and named for the area's early water source, located nearby, the Black Springs community played a significant role in the growth of Palo Pinto County. Prominent individuals associated with the town included early cattlemen and trail drivers Oliver Loving and Charles Goodnight and J. J. "Jack" Cureton, a noted military veteran and pioneer. In 1886 the community was renamed Oran in honor of Texas Governor Oran M. Roberts. Once the county's leading town and the site of stores, churches, a school and railroad, it declined in the 1930s and 1940s. (1982) #423