Oakwood

History

The area where Oakwood currently is built was historically inhabited by the Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Pienkeshaw, all tribes of indigenous peoples; the indigenous peoples discovered the salts mines which would later become the start of the town's economy. The first white presence in the area was that of the French, who documented the salty water near the Vermilion River in 1706. In the early 1800s, fur trappers employed by John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company arrived in the area. The indigenous peoples were driven westward into reservations as a result of several treaties over the course of the early 1800s. In October 1819 an army surveyor team of white settlers and Shawnee hired guides arrived in the region, searching for salt mines. They established wells and salt mining in the area. Due to competition from other mines the mine eventually shut down in the late 1830s/early 1840s. The village of Oakwood is named after Henry Oakwood, an early settler in the area who arrived in 1833. The township of Oakwood was created in 1868 The impetus for the formation of Oakwood Station was the arrival of the Indianapolis, Bloomington, and Western (IB&W) Railroad, which arrived in 1870 and led to the platting of Oakwood, Fithian, and Muncie. The early town suffered multiple hardships, with a fire damaging half of the new buildings in 1871 and smallpox infecting 15 and killing 2 in 1872. By 1880 the population had increased to 99 people. In 1885 two local men started a field tile factory, supplied by locally dug clay; this factory would enable the tiling of most of the local farmland. A hotel operated on the northwest corner of Scott and Collett Streets from 1892 until around 1920; rooms cost one dollar per day. By 1897 the population was 367 people; the village suffered its second…

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Oakwood has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Danville High School
  High · Danville · 1,204 students · 14.7:1 ratio
• North Ridge Middle School
  Middle · Danville · 685 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• Judith Giacoma Elem School
  Elementary · Westville · 671 students · 14.6:1 ratio
• South View Upper Elem School
  Middle · Danville · 623 students · 18.9:1 ratio
• Mark Denman Elementary School
  Elementary · Danville · 590 students · 17.9:1 ratio
• Oakwood Grade School
  Elementary · Oakwood · 581 students · 14.5:1 ratio
• Southwest Elem School
  Elementary · Danville · 442 students · 19.2:1 ratio
• Westville High School
  High · Westville · 350 students · 15.9:1 ratio