Oakdale is a city in Washington County, Minnesota, United States. It is a suburb of Saint Paul and is on the eastern side of the Twin Cities Metropolitan area. The population was 28,303 at the 2020 census. Oakdale is the 36th largest city in Minnesota by population.
Oakdale lies entirely within the North St. Paul–Maplewood–Oakdale school district, ISD 622, and the city's students are split into two high schools within the district. Tartan Senior High School is within the city's boundaries, and serves the southern half of Oakdale. The city's northern residents are served by North High School in North St. Paul.
The 45th Parallel runs directly through the city of Oakdale, bisecting the city generally along Upper 35th Street North. This marks the halfway point between the Equator and the North Pole. At Tilsen Park, the 45th Parallel runs directly through the baseball field's home plate.
Imation World Headquarters was in Oakdale. Nearby 3M headquarters employs many residents of the city.
Etymology
Oakdale was named for a grove of oak trees near the original town site. Oakdale Township was organized in 1858. The city of Oakdale is the result of a consolidation of Oakdale and Northdale Townships in the 1970s, and continued to annex land well into the 1990s.
Arthur Stephen suggested the name "OakDale" at the first town meeting on November 1, 1858. Stephen was born on March 30, 1830, in Scotland. He was the son of Robert and Elizabeth (Grant) Stephen. In 1839, when Arthur was nine years old, the Stephen family came to America and settled in Knox County, Illinois. His father was a schoolteacher and young Arthur learned the trade of bricklayer.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of ; is land and is water.
Oakdale is bound between Minnesota State Highway 120 on its west, Washington County Road 13 on its east, Interstate 694 on its north, and Interstate 94 on its south. Other main routes in the community include Minnesota State Highway 36, and Hadley Avenue North which Oakdale designates its "signature street" since it is the primary street running the length of the city.