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CHistory
History · Oakdale

Oakdale’s post office opened in 1896, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns · #78 of 161 in Louisiana. What drives it

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1921 on, and the census since 1920.

1896first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Oakdale’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Oakdale began

When was Oakdale founded?

1896

The Oakdale post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 4,016 in 19202020 census: 6,692130 years

How historic is Oakdale?

C

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Oakdale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Oakdale’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oakdale is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #78 of 161 in Louisiana. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Oakdale’s overall grade.
Founding era1896, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194016.2% of homes (±7.6) · typical LA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%BNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical LA town 3.8 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 35%
NewerOlder
Louisiana towns of 2,500+ (161)Ahead of 52%

Louisiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Louisiana town has 3.8 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Oakdale’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (21% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

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 writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ 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.
Retake an old viewRebecca. A slave girl from New Orleans: stand where they stood+15Share 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 city in Allen Parish in south Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Oakdale had a population of 6,692. Oakdale was founded as "Dunnsville" by William T. Dunn. The history of Allen Parish is preserved at the Leatherwood Museum, which reopened on September 27, 2008, in a renovated facility at 202 E. 7th Ave. in Oakdale.

Its first post office opened in 1896. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 7,780 to 6,692 (-14%).

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

Timeline

Oakdale, 1863 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1863In the archiveRebecca. A slave girl from New Orleans
  3. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - Allen Parish - Oakdale - ED 2-10…
  4. 1896Post officeThe Oakdale post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1942Born hereJoe N. Ballard is born here
  8. 1944Born hereR. C. Slocum is born here
  9. 1970Born hereCurtis Buckley is born here
By decade

Oakdale, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s–1880s3 items
Rebecca. A slave girl from New Orleans1863Rebecca. A slave girl from New Orleans1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - Allen Parish - Oakdale - ED 2-10, ED 2-1118801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA…1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA) - Allen Parish - Oakdale - ED 2-13 to 2018801950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana (LA…
1890s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today8 recent
Oakdale, LA, welcome sign IMG 01562016Oakdale, LA, welcome sign IMG 0156Oakdale, LA, City Hall IMG 01592016Oakdale, LA, City Hall IMG 0159Oakdale (LA) High School IMG 01632016Oakdale (LA) High School IMG 0163Leatherwood Museum in Oakdale, LA IMG 01572016Leatherwood Museum in Oakdale, LA IMG 0157First United Methodist Church, Oakdale, LA IMG 01672016First United Methodist Church, Oakdale, LA IMG 0167Behind the barricades at Federal Correctional Institute in Oakdale, LA IMG 01712016Behind the barricades at Federal Correctional Institu…Allen Parish Library, Oakdale branch IMG 01602016Allen Parish Library, Oakdale branch IMG 0160LAMap-doton-Oakdale2004LAMap-doton-Oakdale
On the map

Oakdale on the map, 1935 to 1998

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oakdale. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Oakdale on the 1935 USGS mapOakdale on the 1942 USGS mapOakdale on the 1955 USGS mapOakdale on the 1968 USGS mapOakdale on the 1998 USGS map1935Oakdale sheet · 1:31,680

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

Every building

Oakdale, building by building, 1921–1925

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Oakdale fire insurance map, 1921, sheet 11921Sheet 1 of 7
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Rebecca. A slave girl from New Orleans
Retake this viewRebecca. A slave girl from New Orleans, 1863

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Oakdale’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Oakdale, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 8,137

Between 3,188 and 8,137 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Oakdale

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Joe N. BallardLieutenant General in the United States Army · b. 1942
C
Curtis BuckleyAmerican football player and coach · b. 1970
R. C. SlocumCollege football coach · b. 1944
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Oakdale’s post office has been open since 1896.

Gone or out of use
Murray Airportairport
1cemetery inside Oakdale
Sacred Heart

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Oakdale’s history

What year was Oakdale founded?

The Oakdale post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Oakdale rank for history?

Oakdale is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #78 of 161 in Louisiana. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Oakdale?

16% of Oakdale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1970.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (10), the Library of Congress (1), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.