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Welcome to Oakland ...

Oakland is located in Bristol County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Oakland, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1891.

When the people of Oakland refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Oaklander<2>

Oakland is 40 feet [12 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Oakland lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Oakland: 508 & 774<4>

Communities Also Named Oakland ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two Massachusetts communities named Oakland: This one is located in Bristol County and the other is located in Middlesex County.

Beyond Massachusetts, there are 131 communities that are also named Oakland - they are located in Alabama (4), Arkansas, California (2), Connecticut, Delaware, Florida (2), Georgia (7), Illinois (3), Indiana (2), Iowa (2), Kansas (5), Kentucky (3), Louisiana (3), Maine, Manitoba, Maryland (6), Michigan (2), Minnesota (2), Mississippi (3), Missouri (4), Nebraska, New Brunswick, New Jersey (3), New York (2), North Carolina (7), Nova Scotia, Ohio (10), Oklahoma, Ontario (2), Oregon, Pennsylvania (8), Rhode Island, South Carolina (4), Tennessee (12), Texas (8), Vermont, Virginia (6), Washington (2), West Virginia (2) and Wisconsin (2).

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Oakland.

Communities near Oakland ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Oakland.

  • Providence
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
    • Providence is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 179,270 people
  • Brockton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brockton
    • Brockton is located in Plymouth County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 95,770 people
  • Fall River
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River
    • Fall River is located in Bristol County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 89,792 people
  • Cranston
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranston
    • Cranston is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 81,142 people
  • Pawtucket
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawtucket
    • Pawtucket is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 71,710 people
  • East Providence
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Providence
    • East Providence is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 47,337 people
  • Attleboro
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attleboro
    • Attleboro is located in Bristol County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 45,444 people
  • Cumberland
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cumberland have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland
    • Cumberland is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 35,207 people
  • Franklin
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
    • Franklin is located in Norfolk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 34,711 people
  • Randolph
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Randolph have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
    • Randolph is located in Norfolk County
    • Estimated population in 2019: 34,362 people

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Oakland. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Oakland.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Oakland. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Oakland.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Oakland. See our Newspapers Page for Oakland.

Adding Oakland to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Oakland in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Oakland was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Oakland post office opened in 1891.

We also found Oakland in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Oakland.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Massachusetts' counties, including Bristol, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Oakland refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a community's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Oakland may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Oakland - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 508 code has been Overlayed with the 774 area code. New phone numbers in the Oakland area will be assigned with one of these codes: 508 or 774. As a result, placing a call in the Oakland area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<6>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/