Oakland is a city in

Coles County Coles County is a County (United States), county in Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 46,863. Its county seat is Charleston, Illinois, Charleston, which is also the home of Eastern Illinois Universit ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The population was 739 at the 2020 census. Oakland is the nearest community to Walnut Point State Park.

History

Oakland, formerly known as Independence, was platted in 1833. Pioneer doctor and abolitionist Hiram Rutherford moved to Oakland in 1840 to start his practice in the young town. He became a prominent citizen. Rutherford is best known for his involvement in the 1847 Matson Trial, which involved his friend

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

. A Kentucky slave owner, General Robert Matson, annually brought slaves to work on his land near Oakland. One year, a family of slaves ran away from the farm and took refuge with Rutherford and Gideon Ashmore. Matson sued the men for harboring slaves; Rutherford and Ashmore countered that the slaves could not legally be held in a free state. Rutherford attempted to have Lincoln represent him in the case, but Lincoln had already agreed to represent the slave owner. Matson, represented by Lincoln, lost the case in Coles County court. Rutherford's home and office, as well as other historic sites, are maintained and available for tours.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Oakland has a total area of , of which (or 95.60%) is land and (or 4.40%) is water.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 739 people, 494 households, and 272 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 387 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.72%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.41%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.14% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.14%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.27% from other races, and 4.06% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.17% of the population. There were 494 households, out of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.71% were married couples living together, 1.82% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.94% were non-families. 42.11% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.22% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.93 and the average family size was 2.15. The city's age distribution consisted of 25.0% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 18.1% from 25 to 44, 28.6% from 45 to 64, and 20.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $41,806, and the median income for a family was $64,000. Males had a median income of $41,816 versus $25,288 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $24,515. About 8.5% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 7.5% of those under age 18 and 8.4% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Oakland is home to Oakland Community Unit School District 5.

Transportation

Coles County Zipline Coles County Zipline is a provider of mass transportation in Coles County, Illinois, with deviated fixed-routes serving Charleston and Mattoon. As of 2020, the system provided 18,863 rides over 2,688 annual vehicle revenue hours. The service ...

provides

dial-a-ride Demand-responsive transport (DRT), also known as demand-responsive transit, demand-responsive service,
US National Trans ...

bus transit service to the city. The nearest passenger rail service is at

Mattoon station Mattoon station is an Amtrak intercity train station in Mattoon, Illinois, United States. The station is a flag stop on the '' City of New Orleans'' route, served only when passengers have tickets to and from the station. It is a regular stop fo ...

, where

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

operates to Chicago, Carbondale, New Orleans, and other destinations.

Notable people

* Rich T. Buckler (1865–1950), member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Minnesota's 9th congressional district Minnesota's 9th congressional district is a now-obsolete district for representation in the United States House of Representatives which existed from 1903 to 1963. It generally consisted of the northwest corner of the state (parts of the current ...

. Buckler was born in Oakland and resided in the area until moving to

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

in 1904.United States Congress.
Rich T. Buckler
(id: B001023)".

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress The ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress'' (Bioguide) is a biographical dictionary of all present and former members of the United States Congress and its predecessor, the Continental Congress. Also included are Delegates fr ...

. *

Robert Matson Robert Matson (January 1796 – January 26, 1859) was a plantation owner in Kentucky who also owned a farm in Illinois. He was a veteran of the War of 1812 and a slave owner. He was also a two term legislator in the Kentucky legislature. In Illi ...

(1796–1859), a

slave owner The following is a list of notable people who owned other people as slaves, where there is a consensus of historical evidence of slavery, slave ownership, in alphabetical order by last name. A * Adelicia Acklen (1817–1887), at one time the ...

involved in the 1847 Matson Trial * Chris Miller (born 1954), state representative for Illinois's 110th district * Mary Miller (born 1959), U.S. representative for

Illinois's 15th congressional district The 15th congressional district of Illinois is currently located in central Illinois. It was located in eastern and southeastern Illinois until 2022. It is currently represented by Republican Party (United States), Republican Mary Miller (poli ...

. * Stanton C. Pemberton (1858–1944), businessman and Illinois state senator * Hiram Rutherford, a doctor and

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

involved in the 1847 Matson Trial

References

{{authority control Cities in Coles County, Illinois Charleston–Mattoon, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area Populated places established in 1833 Cities in Illinois 1833 establishments in Illinois