Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Oakdale

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Oakdale

Oakdale’s post office opened in 1946, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Oakdale was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and old-book passages.

1946first post office
1on the National Register
5%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?

1946

The Oakdale post office opened in 1946, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 7,43080 years
Founding year: the first Oakdale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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.On the map since 19025 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1979. Watch Oakdale change.
★ 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
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPart of Town of Islip: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Oakdale on the map, 1902 to 1979

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 1902 USGS mapOakdale on the 1944 USGS mapOakdale on the 1955 USGS mapOakdale on the 1967 USGS mapOakdale on the 1979 USGS map1902Fire Island sheet · 1:62,500

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

The story

How Oakdale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Oakdale.

Read it all →

Oakdale was founded around two Native American trade routes, where Sunrise Highway and Montauk Highway currently lie. Oakdale was part of the royal land grant given to William Nicoll, who founded Islip Town in 1697. Local historian Charles P. Dickerson wrote in 1975 that Oakdale's name appeared to come from a Nicoll descendant in the mid-19th century. The community includes: St. John's Episcopal Church, built in 1765, is the third oldest church on Long Island.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Oakdale in 1882

Passages that mention Oakdale, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Emanuel Episcopal Church at Great River commenced as a mission of St. Mark's in 1862, and was called St. Mark's Chapel. It was transferred to the charge of St. John's church, Oakdale, in 1873, and was organized as a parish under its present name in 1878, with the Rev. Newton Perkins as rector. Duri…
...History of Suffolk county, New York1882Read the page →
Read the text

Emanuel Episcopal Church at Great River commenced as a mission of St. Mark's in 1862, and was called St. Mark's Chapel. It was transferred to the charge of St. John's church, Oakdale, in 1873, and was organized as a parish under its present name in 1878, with the Rev. Newton Perkins as rector. During the same year Mr. Perkins retired from the rectorship, and he was succeeded in 1879 by Rev. William P. Brush, who officiated during a

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Oakdale, 1884 to 1993

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Born hereHarold Stirling Vanderbilt is born here
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1915In the archivePart of Town of Islip
  6. 1933In the archiveDETAIL VIEW OF FIREPLACE (not the same one above) - Pepperidge Hall (fireplaces)
  7. 1975In the archiveBourne Windmill, Oakdale, New York 1975
  8. 1977Born hereJane Monheit is born here
  9. 1993Born hereMike Pellegrino is born here
By decade

Oakdale, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1930s2 items
Part of Town of Islip1915Part of Town of IslipDETAIL VIEW OF FIREPLACE (not the same one above) - Pepperidge Hall (fireplaces)1933DETAIL VIEW OF FIREPLACE (not the same one above) - P…
1940s–1960snothing 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
1970s1 item
Bourne Windmill, Oakdale, New York 19751975Bourne Windmill, Oakdale, New York 1975
1980s–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
Today3 recent
Neglected Greenhouse2009Neglected GreenhouseNeglected Greenhouse - panoramio - dans3622009Neglected Greenhouse - panoramio - dans362Ducks - panoramio (4)2009Ducks - panoramio (4)
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.

Part of Town of Islip
Retake this viewPart of Town of Islip, 1915

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
On the National Register

1 historic place in Oakdale

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Oakdale

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

See all →
Jane MonheitAmerican singer · b. 1977
Harold Stirling VanderbiltAmerican bridge player, yachtsman, and railroad… · b. 1884
M
Mike PellegrinoAmerican lacrosse player and football coach · b. 1993
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Great River1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWest Sayville4 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townIslip27 historic placesA−Brookhaven52 historic placesA−Bohemia1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSayville5 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Oakdale’s history

What year was Oakdale founded?

The Oakdale post office opened in 1946, 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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.