Oakland, Maine, United States

🇺🇸 Oakland is a town in Kennebec County in the U.S. state of Maine. Oakland is 4 miles (6 km) west of Waterville and approximately 18 miles (29 km) north of Augusta, the state capital. Waterville and Augusta are service centres for Oakland, and many Oakland residents commute to jobs in those areas.

History The area that is now Oakland was first settled in about 1780 by colonists of English descent from Massachusetts and New Hampshire. At that time, the region was known as Taconnet after Indian Chief Taconnet, an Abenaki nation sachem. Farmers found the area's fertile soil good for cultivation, grazing and dairy farming, while the water power provided by the Messalonskee Stream was useful for manufacturers. The area was incorporated by the Massachusetts General Court in 1771 as part of Winslow. In 1802, the area of Winslow west of the Kennebec River was incorporated as Waterville.

The Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad arrived in 1849, spurring Waterville to boom as a mill town. With several manufacturers of farm implements, it became known as the axe and scythe capital of New England. Other factories produced canned goods, tinware, carriages, furniture, tools, machinery, woolens, lumber, coffins, leather, boots and shoes. There was a granite quarry.

In the 1870s, manufacturers in the western section of Waterville, unhappy with taxation in the town, petitioned the Maine State Legislature to designate their industrial district as a separate town. In 1872, Oakland became the southern terminal of the Somerset Railroad, connecting first to North Anson, then to Bingham, and finally to Moosehead Lake. On February 26, 1873, the area was incorporated as West Waterville. In 1883, it was renamed Oakland.

The town's ponds and lakes are home to a number of summer camps. Downtown contains some notable architecture, including Memorial Hall, built in 1870, and the Oakland Public Library, a Carnegie library built between 1913 and 1915. Both are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The completion of Interstate 95 in the 1960s increased Oakland's relationship with the Augusta area, and to some extent the Greater Portland and Bangor areas.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 28.17 square miles (72.96 km²), of which, 25.67 square miles (66.48 km²) of it is land and 2.50 square miles (6.47 km²) is water. Oakland is drained by four major waterways: McGrath Pond, Salmon Lake, East Pond and Messalonskee Lake and Stream.

The town is crossed by Interstate 95, and state routes 11, 23, 41 and 137. It borders the towns of Belgrade to the south-west, Smithfield to the north-west, Fairfield to the north, Waterville to the south-east, and Sidney to the south.

Oakland is also home to R.S.U. 18 – the local school district. There is Messalonskee High School, which enrolls around 700 students, and has an 826-seat J. Duke Albanneese Performing Arts Center.

Sites of interest • Official Town of Oakland, Maine website • Memorial Hall • Oakland Area Historical Society & Museum.