This is about your request for information on why the O-A teams were referred to as the Gypsum Villagers back in the 1940s and 50s. The town was very small back then and the only place of employment was the U.S. Gypsum Mill, which made and still makes drywall. Oakfield and the surrounding towns including Alabama were mining towns. The Gypsum mill built houses on their property and along many of the roads for their employees to live in. The school district was still Oakfield-Alabama but the common name among the townspeople was the Villagers because most people lived in the house built by the Gypsum Mill. My Grandmother has lived in Oakfield for over 70 years and still lives in a house built by the Mill. My Grandfather worked for the mill until his retirement in the 1970s. Most of the mines have been shut down and flooded but the mill still operates and is the towns main source of employment. (February 21, 2006)