Welcome to Oaklandon Friday, February 14 2025 @ 10:02 pm EST
From CallCarpenter.com
At the northeastern edge of Marion County, just a few miles past Lawrence and just a step from McCordsville and Hancock County, you’ll find the small community of Oaklandon.
Back in 1849, the now-deceased John Emery laid out a small village northeast of the state capitol. Originally called Oakland, it was changed to Oaklandon around 1870 when they got their post office … and the first "Oakland” in Indiana objected to a second "Oakland.” So we add an "on” and we’re set to go.
In the early years, the town fostered a sense of community, with strong churches, lodges and local businesses. There was plenty of space to stretch out, yet it was close-knit. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there are stories of town bands that were very well-known, playing in their own Oklandon bandstands and other area events, even the Indy 500.
By the 1920s, Oaklandon was beginning to be more suburb than town. Never incorporated as a true town or city, the new State Road 67 (built past, not through Oaklandon) made commuting to Indianapolis an easy task. An interurban line took that a step further.
Interesting story (directly quoted from A History of Oaklandon, The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce): A 1927 feature story in The Indianapolis News explains why there were no saloons in Oaklandon. About 1887, the women of Oaklandon apparently organized a branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, an organization that included a campaign against alcohol. Their target was the lone saloon in Oaklandon.
Adeline Apple, 83, was interviewed. The feature story said, "Mrs. Apple, with a twinkle in her eye, tells how she and the other women went into the saloon unannounced one night and sat down, much to the consternation of the men who soon took to their heels.
The second night, she said, the saloonkeeper had hoped to prevent their staying by having all the chairs taken out. The women, undaunted, stood around the stove. "The nightly visitations of the feminine contingent destroyed business and the saloon soon disappeared according to Mrs. Apple,"
We’re thinking the business disappeared, not the actual building. But we weren’t there, so …
After the second World War, Lawrence and Oaklandon found themselves even more a suburb of Indianapolis. Lawrence, a city, started actions to annex Oaklandon. Oaklandon objected, sued, fought and got all riled up, but Lawrence finally won out in 1976.
Today, the Oaklandon community maintains an identity, with a bright "Oaklandon” water tower, its original Oaklandon Road and a few small monuments celebrating the one-time village, now suburb.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AChristopher_Apple_House_front_and_side.jpg
Western front of the Christopher Apple House, located at 11663 Pendleton Pike (U.S. Route 36) in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Built in 1859, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
National Register of Historic Places Inventory -- Nomination form. [ 3.5MB pdf ]
An image search on keword "Oaklandon" has yielded a bunch more images of the wooden play area that (beyond pictures) exists only as fond memories in the minds of those park-goers fortunate enough to have visited this unique creation. I would surely like to learn who was actually behind designing and building this work of art. I feel a research project coming on...
The following images were retrieved from MapOfPlay
All Images Uploaded on August 26, 2011 by Angie Six
Source: https://mapofplay.kaboom.org/playspaces/99578
A nice look back on the wooden structures of the good old
Oaklandon Play Park of days gone by...
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I was performing a Yahoo search of the web using the keywords "Oaklandon" and "History" and several pages deep into the results I was rewarded with a link to "American Dirt" a blog maintained by Eric McAfee and purporting to offer "Observations of Contemporary Landscapes - An Amature Lens and a Semi-Professional Eye."
The particular article of interest is titled "MONTAGE: Small town in the big city." In this piece Eric M. turns his lens toward several of the more obscure "historic rural enclaves in Marion County" wherein he explores Mars Hill, Maywood, Mickleyville, Lynhurst, Bridgeport, Flackville, Snacks, University Heights, Oaklandon and Julietta. Posted to the internet on December 31, 2009 many of the Oaklandon photos presented are already of historical significance and the pertanant section of the story is readily embraced by this website and is reproduced below with the very gracious permission of the author.
•••
Oaklandon
As far northeast as you can get and still be in Marion County, the community of Oaklandon retains a considerable number of old commercial buildings, at the intersection of Pendleton Pike and Oaklandon Road. Most of the heart of the community focuses on its intersection of Oaklandon Road with an old Conrail line. It is one of the less obscure rural enclaves, and it’s surrounded by suburbia to the north, east, and west.
The majority of this community appears very well-maintained and preserved—particularly remarkable considering it sacrificed any political autonomy it might have had, after 1970’s Unigov.
Bad weather and the encroaching dusk prevented me from taking more lingering photos.
The community organized itself enough to dedicate and build a pocket park at the foot of the old water tower.
This blurry Unitarian Universalist church is one of several in the area that reference Oaklandon in its name.
The small-town character dissolves rapidly into suburbia on the north side of the railroad tracks, though the heavily-skylighted structure in the background clearly dates from Oaklandon’s origins as an old rail stop.
•••Oaklandon is located in Lawrence Township on the very edge of Marion County. A few steps further and you would be in Hancock County - McCordsville, Indiana.
After a six year court battle, Oaklandon was annexed into Lawrence Township, Indianapolis.
In researching the Internet for the history of this community, I was able to find a PDF file at The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce website that gave some background about the Oaklandon Community.
John Emery platted the village that was originally called Oakland. When Germantown relocated it's post office in 1870, the name of Oaklandon was taken. I understand this was to keep from having any confusion about another part of Indiana that had a town named Oakland as well.
(to the right Bell Tower - Original Building for Oaklandon Christian Church est. 1866).
Westminster Village North a retirement community on 57 acres, at one time was known as the Sunnyside Sanatorium. This sanatorium was the first state sanatorium in Indiana. It was thought that the abundant sunshine and fresh air helped to promote faster recoveries from tuberculosis infection.
While Oaklandon has a long history, I have had a difficult time tracking down some of the homes that are still here in the area. I will share the building and what I know at this time.
If you are considering a move, please visit my website http://cyndisloop 4indyhomes.com.