Oakland, arguably one of St. Louis County’s best-kept
secrets, is a small fourth class city of approximately 1550 residents.
Its 7.5 miles of tree-lined streets are nestled between Webster Groves to its
east, Crestwood to its south, Kirkwood to its west, and Glendale to its north.
Oakland is a community of great architectural diversity. Not only
will you find homes designed by such modern day architects as Harris
Armstrong, Robert Schutt and Paul Marti (all of whom are current or former Oakland
residents) but also turn of the century houses and arts and
crafts-styled cottages. Oakland has a fascinating history, recently
explored in the book Oakland: A History
of the People &Their Homes and summarized here.
Oakland is primarily a residential community, but within
its city limits you will find Westborough Country Club, Ursuline Academy, a
private girls’ high school, Bethesda Dilworth, one of the largest long term
care facilities in Missouri, Webster Groves Christian Church and Oak Bend Library,
a branch of St. Louis County Library.
You will also find 2 City Parks. Adolph Loewnau Park in
located on the corner of Sappington Road and Oakland. Backstoppers Park
of Oakland, opened in 2006. The construction of this park was done with
the financial help of 2 grants. The first, written in partnership with
Trailnet, Inc. was provided by The Missouri Department of Natural Resources in
the amount of approximately $250,000 which paid for most of the park design,
landscape and construction. The second, from the St. Louis County Municipal
Parks Grant Commission, was in the amount of $95,000 to help pay for a large
portion of the pavilion. Both sections of the park are part of Grant’s Trail.
Both City parks provide wonderful green spaces within our community.