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History · Oakdale

Oakdale was first counted by the census in 1870, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1985 on and the census since 1870.

1870first census
0on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

How Oakdale began

When was Oakdale founded?

1870

Oakdale first appears in the census in 1870.

First census: 116 in 18702020 census: 199156 years
Founding year: the first census.

What stands out about Oakdale’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Oakdale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Oakdale’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Oakdale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oakdale’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Oakdale, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Oakdale yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Oakdale is a village in Washington County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Oakdale had a population of 199.

Its first post office opened in 1870. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 221 to 199 (-10%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Oakdale, 1872 to 1985

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Oakdale post office opens
  3. 1890Born hereRussell Maxwell is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1985On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Oakdale on the map in 1985

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oakdale.

Oakdale on the 1985 USGS map1985Pinckneyville sheet · 1:100,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Oakdale.

People over time

Oakdale, census by census

010020018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 221

Between 116 and 221 people in every census since 1870.

7 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oakdale’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Oakdale’s history

What year was Oakdale founded?

The Oakdale post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.