Oakwood Celebrates Its 100th Birthday

The City of Oakwood, Georgia, celebrated its 100th birthday the other day and it brings to mind the old real estate saw that says the value of land depends on three things: location, location and location. In the early days of the settlement of Hall County (say back in the 1820's or 1830's), Oakwood was not very well located as a town. There existed some pretty good farming land and some good families settled in the community, but there was little reason to build a store there. The old North-South Peachtree Trail ran a bit east of Oakwood, and the major East-West crossroads were down the trail at Flowery Branch and up the trail at Mule Camp Springs, now Gainesville.

Then in the 1870's the Air Line Railroad was built, traversing from Charlotte to Atlanta along the edge of the Blue Ridge mountains, and railroad stops began to develop along that route. The railroad missed Clarkesville, in Habersham County, and a new town began to develop at a railroad stop called Cornelia. Gainesville was a major stop, and Flowery Branch eventually built a small but fancy railroad station for its stopping place. There was another stop North of Gainesville, designated specifically for those people coming to visit the posh White Sulphur Springs Hotel.

I'm not sure just how, or when, Oakwood became an official stop on the line, but it did, and it developed as a community trading center. And 100 years ago it was officially (by history, anyway) designated as a town.

In more recent times a new North-South four-lane highway was built between Blackshear Place and Oakwood, and in honesty Blackshear Place was probably better known then than Oakwood. The new Oakwood developed next to the highway, at a major intersection, and unless you know the area well you will have to hunt for the City Hall which is located in old Oakwood next to the railroad tracks.

Oakwood is now a city, and the way it is growing it will soon be the largest city in Hall County. Historically, it is located on a railroad ... and on a major highway with a major crossroad ... not far from Lake Lanier ... and in the path of Atlanta's northern growth. Not a bad location for a city.

This is Gordon Sawyer, from a window on historic Green Street.