The story
Read it all →How Oakland came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Oakland.
The Van Allen House was built in 1748 and was a stop for George Washington and his troops in 1777.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B−History
History · Oakland
Oakland’s post office opened in 1872, and 5 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #329 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Most of Oakland was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1960. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1900.
1872first post office
5on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
2famous people
Quick answers
How Oakland began
When was Oakland founded?
1872
The Oakland post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 479 in 19002020 census: 12,748154 years
How historic is Oakland?
B−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Oakland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Oakland’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oakland is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #329 of 468 in New Jersey. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Oakland’s overall grade.
Founding era1872, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19407.3% of homes (±2.6) · typical NJ town 14.7% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register5 listings, 7 historic buildings, 5.5 per 10,000 residents · typical NJ town 3.7 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 46%
NewerOlder
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 30%
New Jersey towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New Jersey town has 3.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Oakland’s 5.5 sits near the middle of its state (58% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Oakland’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18916 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1995. Watch Oakland change.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.Old housesHalf of Oakland’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Oakland’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oakland’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Oakland on the map, 1891 to 1995
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oakland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1891Greenwood Lake sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Oakland.
On the National Register
5 historic places in Oakland
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Van Allen House
Buildings
Van Allen HouseBuilding
Demarest HouseBuilding
Demarest-Hopper HouseBuilding
Jacobus Demarest HouseBuilding
Van Winkle-Fox HouseBuilding
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Timeline
Oakland, 1872 to 1986
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Oakland, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1900s4 items
c. 1907
c. 1907
c. 19071910s–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
2015
2015
2015
2015
2015
2011
2011
2008Then & 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.
Retake this viewOakland station Bailey 2, c. 1907
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Oakland’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Oakland, census by census
Between 479 and 14,420 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oakland’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Oakland
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Oakland’s history
What year was Oakland founded?
The Oakland post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Oakland rank for history?
Oakland is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #329 of 468 in New Jersey. 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.
What is on the National Register in Oakland?
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Van Allen House (listed 1973, the first). 7 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Oakland?
7% of Oakland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1960.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, 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.