Oakdale is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Suffolk
County, New York, United States. The population was 7,974 at the 2010 census.
Oakdale is in the Town of Islip.
History
Oakdale is a scion of America's gilded age of a century ago,
where powerful men of incredible wealth built South Shore gold coast mansions
and dwelt in manorial splendor.
Oakdale originated from a tavern owned by Eliphalet (Liff)
Snedecor in what is now Connetquot River State Park. Soon after its founding in
1820, Snedecor's Tavern began drawing New York bluebloods and business barons
who wined and dined in remote joy when they weren't fishing and hunting nearby.
``Liff's food is as good as his creek,`` a magazine writer declared in 1839,
referring to the Connetquot River, ``and the two are only second to his mint
juleps and champagne punch; whoever gainsays either fact deserves hanging
without benefit of clergy.`` In 1866, as the railroad reached the area, Liff's
wealthy patrons formed the Southside Sportsmen's Club, and soon the race was on
to see who could create the most superb spread in the thick forests adjoining
Great South Bay.
The most prominent were William K. Vanderbilt, grandson of
railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt; Frederick G. Bourne, president of the
Singer Sewing Machine Co., and Christopher Robert II,[1] an eccentric heir to a
sugar fortune. Meanwhile, William Bayard Cutting, a lawyer, financier and
railroad man, built his estate next door in Great River, which had once been
west Oakdale.
Oakdale was part of the royal land grant given to William
Nicoll, who founded Islip Town in 1697. Local historian Charles P. Dickerson,
writing in 1975, said Oakdale's name apparently came from a Nicoll descendant
in the mid-19th century. The community has other claims to historical
distinction: St. John's Episcopal Church, built in 1765, is the third oldest
church on Long Island. In 1912, Jacob Ockers of Oakdale organized the Bluepoint
Oyster Co., which became the largest oyster producer and shipper in the
country.
But the mansions dominated Oakdale's past. In 1882,
Vanderbilt built the most noted one, Idle Hour, his 900-acre (3.6 km2) estate
on the Connetquot River. The lavish, wooden 110-room home was destroyed by fire
April 15, 1899, while his son, Willie K. II, was honeymooning there. Willie and
his new wife escaped. It was promptly rebuilt of red brick and gray stone, with
exquisite furnishings, for a princely $3 million. The building at the time was
considered among the finest homes in America. His daughter Consuelo had also
honeymooned there when she married the Duke of Marlborough in 1895.
After Vanderbilt's death in 1920, the mansion went through
several phases and visitors, including a brief stay during Prohibition by
gangster Dutch Schultz. Around that time, cow stalls, pig pens and corn cribs
on the farm portion of Idle Hour were converted into a short-lived bohemian
artists' colony that included figures such as George Elmer Browne and Roman
Bonet-Sintas. Now the estate is the home of Dowling College, a fast-growing
commuter school.
By 1888, Robert built a spectacular castle just east of Idle
Hour called Pepperidge Hall, magnificently furnished in the French style for
his young wife. But the pair didn't get along. On January 2, 1898, she told
police she found Robert shot to death in his Manhattan apartment. It was ruled
suicide and she moved to Paris. The mansion fell into disrepair and was razed
in 1941.
In 1897, Bourne, who began with 438 acres (1.77 km2) but
later owned several thousand acres reaching to West Sayville, completed his
mansion, Indian Neck Hall, on the east side of Oakdale. Bourne was active
locally, as commodore of the Sayville Yacht Club, and was generous to the local
fire department. The eastern part of his estate now comprises the West Sayville
County Golf Course and the Long Island Maritime Museum, while much of the
middle portion is covered with homes. Bourne died in 1920. Six years later the
mansion, on the western end, became the site of La Salle Military Academy,
operated by the Christian Brothers, a Catholic order. In 1993, the brothers
converted the academy into a kindergarten-through-high-school ``global learning
community.`` In 2001, La Salle was closed and it was bought by St. John's
University, New York.
Oakdale was founded around two Native American trade routes,
where Sunrise Highway and Montauk Highway currently lie.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a
total area of 3.8 square miles (9.8 km2), of which 3.3 square miles (8.5 km2)
is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2) 11.70%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 8,075 people, 3,035
households, and 2,148 families residing in the CDP. The population density was
2,430.3 per square mile (939.1/km²). There were 3,207 housing units at an
average density of 965.2/sq mi (373.0/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was
96.88% White, 1.46% African American, 0.01% Native American, 0.67% Asian, 0.47%
from other races, and 0.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any
race were 3.01% of the population.
There were 3,035 households out of which 28.7% had children
under the age of 18 living with them, 59.6% were married couples living
together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.2% were
non-families. 24.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.2% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household
size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.14.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 22.2% under
the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64,
and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For
every 100 females there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over,
there were 86.3 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $68,793,
and the median income for a family was $88,162. Males had a median income of
$53,650 versus $36,056 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was
$31,239. About 0.8% of families and 2.1% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 1.0% of those under age 18 and 3.4% of those age 65 or
over.