Oak Vale is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Jefferson Davis and

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

counties,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, United States. Its ZIP code is 39656. Oak Vale is located on the former

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also c ...

and was once home to a bank and general store. A post office operated under the name Oakvale from 1856 to 1869 and began operating under the name Oak Vale in 1873. Oak Vale is referenced in the title of

Natasha Trethewey Natasha Trethewey (born April 26, 1966) is an American poet who was appointed United States Poet Laureate in 2012 and again in 2013. She won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for her 2006 collection ''Native Guard'', and she is a former Poet L ...

's poem ''Signs, Oakvale, Mississippi, 1941''.

Notes

Unincorporated communities in Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi Unincorporated communities in Lawrence County, Mississippi Unincorporated communities in Mississippi {{LawrenceCountyMS-geo-stub