The region around Mollie experienced an economic "boom" period because of the discovery of gas and crude oil.

Two county roads intersected at Mollie, making it well-located for area farmers as well as the oil workers.

[4] The community was essentially a small informal cluster of houses around a train station, and it was never officially platted.

Blackford County's first oil well began producing during 1890 in Harrison Township south of Montpelier, Indiana (which is north of Mollie).

[6] Nearby Montpelier was thought to be "the very heart of the greatest natural gas and oil field in the world".

[8] During the Indiana Gas Boom, Mollie's location was ideal for men working in nearby oil fields.

This Post Office became especially useful for workers in the nearby oil fields because mail could be easily sent and retrieved using the railroad.

[11] In addition to the Post Office, the grocery building had a small waiting room for railroad passengers.

[13] Near the end of World War I, an army biplane was forced to land near Mollie because of engine failure.

This was exciting news in Blackford County, and people paid to ride the trolley (interurban line) to Mollie to see the aircraft.

Future Northern Indiana, including what became Harrison Township and Mollie, was flattened by two glaciers millions of years ago.

[16] These glaciers are also responsible for the rich Blackford County farmland, which includes the land surrounding Mollie.

[17] "Standard cereals, wool and live stock" were the products of the area farms during Mollie's more prosperous years in the 1890s.

Farmers on horseback, and on foot, would drive cattle or hogs down the county roads to Mollie's stockyard.

[22] Drainage tiles were important in Blackford County during the 19th century because of the original swampy condition of the land.

These businesses had extra demand for their services during the Indiana Gas Boom, when numerous oil field workers worked nearby.

Other buildings in Mollie included the tile factory, grocery store, cider mill, and a blacksmith shop.

[26] Although work constructing the railroad line began in the 1850s, it was not completed (by connecting Fort Wayne to Muncie) until 1870.

[27][28] A short piece of railroad track branched off from the main line to enable the loading and unloading of railcars in Mollie.

The interurban, called the trolley by the locals, connected with Montpelier to the north and Hartford City to the south.

[31] Mollie's leading resident during the Indiana Gas Boom era was Jacob Burnworth, who moved to Blackford County in 1878.

[35] The end of the Gas Boom was difficult for many small communities, and it was a major cause of Mollie's decline.

Unlike some communities, Mollie did not have manufacturers that were dependent upon the low-cost energy provided by the abundant natural gas.

Elsewhere in the county, the gas and oil workers left, some of the manufacturers moved, and some of the service industries were forced to close or cut back.

According to the United States Census, Blackford County's population peaked at 17,123 in 1900, and it still has not returned to that zenith 100 years later.

During the 20th Century, the quality of automobiles and roads improved—resulting in the decline of interurban lines and passenger service on the railroads.

[38] Passenger service on the Lake Erie and Western Railroad line (owned by the Nickel Plate Road by that time) had already been discontinued in 1931.

[40] The land once occupied by the Mollie community, located at the intersection of Blackford County roads 400 North and 300 East, is now farmland and owned privately.