Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1869.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Oakdale’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oakdale is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Oakdale’s overall grade.
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Oakdale’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania 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 C− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.4 points). Two sources give 1892.
Founding year: Wikidata (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.
Oakdale Borough was incorporated in 1892. On May 18, 1918, a TNT explosion in a local chemical factory killed 200 people. On September 17, 2004, Oakdale was devastated by a flood resulting from the rain brought by the remnants of category 5 Hurricane Ivan. The downpour from Ivan followed a steady rain that had covered the Allegheny County area from category 4 Hurricane Frances, which struck the area just 10 days before Ivan hit. The flooding caused a large-scale evacuation of the community, and brought Red Cross volunteers and National Guard members to the area in an effort to control the confusion. The flooding destroyed businesses, many of which never reopened, and displaced many residents whose homes were condemned.
Passages that mention Oakdale, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 25Read the page →
Read the text
are employed, and the daily capacity is 500 tons. . . Star mines, 1,930 feet east of Willow Grove station, are operated by Frank Mankedict, and produce 225 tons daily; 100 men are employed. . . . Oak Ridge mines, 1,300 feet east of Oakdale station, were opened in 1872. The annual product is about one million bushels. The Oak Ridge Coal company, limited, John Musser, chairman, George Schluederberg, secretary and treasurer, was incorporated in 1872. . . . The National Coal company, limited, Frank Armstrong, chairman, F. R. Pinkerton, secretary and treasurer, was incorporated
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 416Read the page →
Read the text
being his preceptor. He attended medical lectures at Columbus, Ohio, and has practiced his profession since 1871. On coming to this county he located at Oakdale, where he remained four years; thence went to Venice, Washington county, but again returned to Oakdale, remaining two years and a half, and in 1886 he located in his present place. In
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, 1869 to 1979
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
In 1892, according to Wikidata. Oakdale’s post office opened in 1869.
How does Oakdale rank for history?
Oakdale is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. 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?
42% of Oakdale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1951.
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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
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