Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: old-book passages.
The Oakdale post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Le Roy Station (1864), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 Oakdale’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Oakdale yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Oakdale is a village in Monroe County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 302 at the 2020 census. The village is located within the Town of Oakdale.
Its first post office opened in 1858. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 297 in 2010, 302 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Oakdale, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Amidon and Seth Chase, in 1856. The first building erected was a log cabin built ‘by E. Meloy on section seventeen; the first church on the ground was the Catholic, which began services on Indian creek, three miles south of Oakdale station, in 1869. In 1857 a school house was built and school commenced with a small number of pupils, Miss Emma Baker being the teacher.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
storm was from Jackson county down tlirough a portion of the town of Lincoln, across the east side of LaGrange, through the southwest corner of Byron, and then midway through the town of Oakdale. The cyclone struck Oakdale near J. ('. Hill's farm and destroyed iMr. Hill's barns and other buildings, except his house. All of the buildings on the farms of Mr. ]Myers and Mr. Musser w'ere destroyed, as were also all the buildings on the farm of Fred
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
storm was from Jackson county down through a portion of the town of Lincoln, across the cast side of LaGrange, through the southwest corner of Byron, and then midway through the town of Oakdale. The cyclone struck Oakdale near J. C. Hill’s farm and destroyed Mr. Hill's barns and other buildings, exeept his house. All of the buildings on the farms of Mr. Myers and Mr. Musser were destroyed, as were also all the buildings on the farm of Fred
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
to the growth and prosperity of the city. Nineteen hundred and seven was a year of tornadoes. On July 5th the city barely escaped the effects of the terrible cyclone which did so much damage in the town of Oakdale. This storm, which wrought so much damage and loss of life in the northeastern part of the county, passed within a short distance of the city, but fortunately, did no damage here. In August, on the 10th, however, the city did not
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nobody well known was born in Oakdale itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Oakdale had its own post office from 1858 to 1859. Another post office, Le Roy Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Oakdale post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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 (6), 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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