A History of Oakdale

Oakdale School is located in Morgan  County, Tennessee, a rural area of the eastern section of the state.  Approximately two miles northeast lies the sleepy little town of Oakdale that gave the school its name.  An emerald green river, the Emory,  snakes its way along side a set of railroad tracks  that make a path from northern points in Ohio to southern  points in Louisiana.  Oakdale, the first incorporated town in the tenth district sits at the bottom of Walden's Ridge, a foothill of the Cumberland Mountains.

Oakdale had its beginning in the 1880's when Cincinnati, Ohio, built a railroad route through the mountainous terrain and started a hotel for its railroad workers.  The railroaders called the mountain inn the Babahatchie, which was the river's name, and meant "babbling waters."  One of the photos following features the Babahatchie Inn where as many as 1000 meals and 1500 beds were prepared daily to accommodate railroad crews and passers through.

For years after the turn of the century,  Oakdale continued to grow and prosper because of the railroad.  When stories about Oakdale are told, listeners are surprised to learn that Oakdale once had a bottling plant (Coca Cola and a chocolate drink), a fresh meat and produce market, a bank, a large furniture store, several lawyers offices, a large railroad company store, eating places, boarding  houses, drugstores and the notorious "Hole-in-the-Wall Saloon."  Young people also skated in the skating rink which was located under the old People's General Store, the present site of Helton's abandoned gas station.  They also find it hard to believe that a theater where nightly
" moving pictures" were shown  sat at the west end of the bridge.   After the 1929 Flood, the city officials closed the theater because the flood weakened the foundation and they felt it unsafe. Most of what was once familiarly known as Oakdale is no longer and second generations pass on their stories telling  what they  remember,  knew and loved .

Few people also know that Oakdale was  originally known as Honeycutt, named after Allen Honeycutt  who is the great grandfather of Oakdale resident Sewell Honeycutt and great great grandfather of former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher  Rick Honeycutt.    Allen Honeycutt was born in 1805 in North Carolina but came northwest to Tennessee  and staked out a claim on a track of land consisting of 3,000 acres in Morgan County, Tennessee.  A hunter and a farmer, Honeycutt learned about the railroad wanting to come through,  so he gave Cincinnati all the rights to approximately 200 acres of his land for the right of way for the railroad and terminal yard.  The railroad then named the town Honeycutt, but that title lasted less than a decade and a mining operation near Elverton in nearby  Roane County, Tennessee, was the source for the present Oakdale name.

Records show that the first post office in Oakdale was established when Oakdale was called Honeycutt.   Residents put the post office in the Andrew Jackson  Store which was located above the passenger depot.  A History of Morgan County lists 1891 as the date when Oakdale's post office was called Honeycutt.   More information about the post offices, the railroad, the schools, the disasters, the people, the communities and the churches  and may be found in a book English teacher Vera Scarbrough, her students and local residents wrote called Oakdale: 1880 to the Present.  The book will soon be available for sale  after a third printing.   Inquiries may be made to Oakdale School, Oakdale TN 37829 / 423-369-3885 or Vera Scarbrough <scarbrough@ten-nash.ten.k12.tn.us>

What follows are some pictures that show Oakdale in its heyday:  the people, the famous landmarks, the settlements.    A few pictures show Oakdale today, a place where many call home, whether they live in nearby Knoxville, distant Seattle or Los Angeles.
 

The "Old School" after the fire of '69	The Train station	Before the bridge was built	This is the first bridge built into Oakdale it was built after the previous bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1929
Camp Austin Bridge	Dr. James "Jim" Carr  (under the blotch)	The "Company" Houses	F.D.R. Visits Oakdale
1929 Flood	The "Old School"	Great Grandparents of Rick Honeycutt, Former pitcher for theCincinnati Reds	Movie Night
Oakdale 1909	Old Post Office (torn dow a few years ago)	Railroad	Old School
Piney Church	The Railroad	The Fire	Steam Engine
A Train passing through	Going through the tunnel	After the tunnel was enlarged  (see previous)

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