Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Oakland was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Its Register listing is the Oakland School. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1900.
The Oakland post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oakland’s history is told.
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1900 and 1930, then grew 3-fold.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oakland’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oakland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Oakland.
From Wikipedia’s history of Oakland.
Oakland was county seat of Pickens County, Chickasaw Nation. As county seat, it hosted the county courthouse. Although never a sizable population center, the community was busy during sessions of county court, particularly since Pickens County sprawled from Chickasha in the far northwest to Madill in the southeast.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyThe country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Oakland post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Oakland School (listed 2016).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
2004