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History · Oakdale

Oakdale’s post office opened in 1898, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1920.

1898first post office
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Oakdale began

When was Oakdale founded?

1898

The Oakdale post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hunnicutt (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,552 in 19202020 census: 191128 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 writtenNo old photos of Oakdale are in the public archives yet. 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.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Oakdale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Oakdale.

Read it all →

Oakdale was originally known as "Honeycutt" after an early settler, Allen Honeycutt. In the 1880s, the Cincinnati Southern Railway, which connected Chattanooga and Cincinnati, was built through the area, intersecting the vast system of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad (later the Southern Railway) at Emory Gap near Harriman. Allen Honeycutt donated land to the railroad for construction of a switching point. In 1892, the name of the town was changed to "Oakdale" after a nearby mining operation.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Oakdale, 1873 to 1935

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Born hereFrederic Allen Whiting is born here
  3. 1890Post officeThe Hunnicutt post office opens
  4. 1898Post officeThe Hunnicutt post office closes
  5. 1898Post officeThe Oakdale post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1922Born hereKing Pleasure is born here
  8. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Oakdale, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Oakdale Tenn Royal Palm Train2019Oakdale Tenn Royal Palm TrainOakdale-town-hall-tn12016Oakdale-town-hall-tn1Oakdale-railroad-tracks-tn12016Oakdale-railroad-tracks-tn1Oakdale-post-office-tn12016Oakdale-post-office-tn1Oakdale-houses-SR299-tn12016Oakdale-houses-SR299-tn1Oakdale-from-bridge-tn12016Oakdale-from-bridge-tn1Oakdale-from-bridge-nw-tn12016Oakdale-from-bridge-nw-tn1Oakdale-fire-hall-and-library-tn12016Oakdale-fire-hall-and-library-tn1Oakdale-Methodist-Church-tn12016Oakdale-Methodist-Church-tn1Oakdale-City-Park-sign-tn12016Oakdale-City-Park-sign-tn1Emory-River-Oakdale-tn12016Emory-River-Oakdale-tn16 More of Roger Puta's Southern Railway Photos20166 More of Roger Puta's Southern Railway Photos
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 1941 USGS mapOakdale on the 1952 USGS mapOakdale on the 1968 USGS mapOakdale on the 1980 USGS mapOakdale on the 1998 USGS map1935Harriman sheet · 1:24,000

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

People over time

Oakdale, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,600192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,552

Between 191 and 1,552 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

2 famous people were born in Oakdale

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

See all →
K
King PleasureAmerican singer · b. 1922
Frederic Allen WhitingPhilanthropist and museum director · b. 1873
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Oakdale’s post office has been open since 1898. Another post office, Hunnicutt, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hunnicutt
1890–1898
Oakdale
1898–today
18901960today

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 1898, 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 (12), 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.