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Oakdale, Massachusetts

41 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Dedham town. It lies in ZIP code area 02026. The Survey maps it on the Norwood quadrangle.

Oakdale within Norfolk County

Then and now

1886 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 103 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Oakdale, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Oakdale, surveyed 1886

On record in Oakdale

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register within a mile 3 records

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Topographic sheets covering this place

19 surveys from 41 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

In the county-history sources

149,362 words on this township

History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1884 names this settlement in its chapter on Dedham Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

sideration of the greater question of procuring a full supply of water for domestic purposes, as well as for the extinguishment of fires. This subject had been talked about for some years, but no definite plan or source of supply could be decided upon. In 1876, however, a number of citizens obtained an act of incorporation as the Dedham Water Company, which gave the right to the corporation, to take water from Charles River, or from any pond or brook in the town. If water should be taken from Charles River, the amount of water was limited to a million and a half gallons daily. This corporation was organized Jan. 31, 1877, and the capital stock was afterwards fixed at seventy-five thousand dollars. There was, however, but little public interest in the subject, but the to the best source of supply and cost of constructing | The engineer, Mr. Perey M. Blake, | about Jan. 1, 1881, made a report, which was printed, | near Bridge Street, and to pump it through the village to a stand-pipe to be located on Walnut Street. About the same time several large subscriptions for stock were obtained, and with a definite plan in view, and with effort on the part of some of the corporators, the whole amount of the capital stock was obtained. In January, 1881, the work of construction was formally authorized by the directors of the corporation. direction of Percy M. Blake, engineer. The pumping-engines were constructed by the Knowles Steam Pump Works, of Warren, Mass. The water is taken from a collecting-well, twenty-six feet in diameter and eighteen feet deep, located between the engine-house and Charles River. of two independent engines, one a compound condensing engine, capable of raising seven hundred and fifty thousand gallons one hundred and eighty feet high in twenty-four hours; the other a duplex highpressure engine, capable of raising one million four hundred thousand gallons two hundred and _ thirty feet high in twenty-four hours. The iron reservoir on Walnut Street, is one hundred and three feet in height and twenty feet in diameter. iron of four grades of thickness, the first twentyfive feet from the base, being five-eighths of an inch thick ; the second twenty-five feet, half an inch ; the third twenty-five feet, three-eighths of an inch ; and the remainder, five-sixteenths of an inch. The reservoir was built by Kendall & Roberts, of Cambridgeport, Mass. The service-pipes are cementlined pipes, and were furnished and laid by George Goodhue, of Concord, N. H.' The total cost of the works, as reported by the directors, January, 1882, was about ninety-two thousand dollars. The crease in the expenditure over the estimated cost was owing to the enlargement of the reservoir or stand-pipe, and the laying of nearly ten miles of pipe instead of seven, as provided in the original contract.

Passage source: History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1884.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Dedham Town - it names this place 1 more 1 time.

Fires near this place

150 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 150 fires within 5 miles of Oakdale between 2003 and 2020, burning about 424 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Recreation and ceremony76
Missing data/not specified/undetermined42
Smoking25
Equipment and vehicle use5
Debris and open burning2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
6 September 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
5 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlWESTWOOD
3 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlDEDHAM
23 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
2 September 2017Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlDEDHAM
17 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlDEDHAM
1 September 2018Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlDEDHAM
1 September 2017Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlWESTWOOD

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Norfolk County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 14,875 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 14,875 specimens collected within 10 miles of Oakdale between 1810 and 1975: 5,834 Plantae, 4,749 Fungi, 3,705 Animalia, 292 Protozoa, 194 Chromista, 64 Unrecorded, 37 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by (MARSDEN, H W), ?, ? ex Herb. W.G. Farlow and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Araiospora pulchra Thaxt.Araiospora pulchra Thaxt.1900R. ThaxterStony Brook
Specimen of Lysimachia × producta (A.Gray) FernaldLysimachia × producta (A.Gray) Fernald1900A. P. Chute
A photograph of the species Thalictrum L., not of this specimenThalictrum L.1810Boott, J.W.Near Boston.
A photograph of the species Anemone L., not of this specimenAnemone L.1815Boott, J.Andover Turnpike, 7 miles from Boston.
A photograph of the species Corydalis Vent., not of this specimenCorydalis Vent.1815Boott, F.M.B.Worcester turnpike, 6 miles from Boston.
A photograph of the species Corylus L., not of this specimenCorylus L.1815not recordedCambridge Port, 2 miles from Boston.
Ericaceae1815BoottBoston, U.S.A.
A photograph of the species Hepatica Mill., not of this specimenHepatica Mill.1815Boott, F.M.B.Sweet Auburn.
A photograph of the species Limonium vulgare, not of this specimenLimonium vulgare Mill.1815not recordedOn Cragies Road [=near Cragies Bridge], 1 1/2 miles from Boston.
A photograph of the species Mollugo verticillata, not of this specimenMollugo verticillata L.1815Boott, F.M.B.Boston.
A photograph of the species Nuphar Sm., not of this specimenNuphar Sm.1815Boott, J.W.Worcester Turnpike 6 miles from Boston.
A photograph of the species Persicaria Mill., not of this specimenPersicaria (L.) Mill.1815Boott, J.W.Craigie's Road, 2 miles from Boston.

All 14,875 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Oakdale: 3 past producers, 2 producers, 2 unknowns. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Granite, Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Hopkinton QuarryGraniteProducer
Walpole QuarryStonePast Producer
West Roxbury Crushed Stone OperatioStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Canton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Canton Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Greendale PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Town of NeedhamSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Norfolk County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Ashcroft0.5 miles41
Endicott0.7 miles41
East Dedham0.7 miles46
Dedham0.7 miles41
Readville Manor0.9 miles41
Greenlodge1.3 miles41
Dedham Island2.3 miles46
Islington2.3 miles41

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 612501. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.