The Charter Township of Oakland is a charter township on the north Oakland County outskirts of Metro Detroit, in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is colloquially referred to as "Oakland Township". The population was 16,779 at the 2010 census.
Oakland Township is less densely populated than neighboring townships to the west, south, and east; and retains many elements of a rural, wooded residential bedroom community. Local ordinances and zoning laws are aimed at limiting commercial and industrial development while maintaining a cap on population density by way of a master plan.
Oakland Township's northern half has its own zip code, "Oakland, Michigan, 48363", while the southern portion of the township shares zip code 48306 with the northernmost portion of adjacent Rochester Hills. "Oakland", "Goodison", “Rochester”, and "Rochester Hills" are other city names recognized for addresses for residents in this township.
Communities
The Township has unincorporated communities: Campbells Corner is on the northern border with Addison Township at . Goodison (also historically known as Goodison Station) is located within the township at Collins, Territorial/Orion and Gallagher/Tower Roads ( Elevation: 840 ft./256 m.). Goodison is named for William Goodison and his family who ran the local grist mill after immigrating from England. The mill was established in 1835, and a post office began operations in 1874. Goodison was a named station on the Michigan Central Railroad on a north–south track between Bay City and Detroit. One of the Oakland Township Master Plan objectives is to "Establish Goodison as a central gathering place". To this end township officials are attempting to restore water to the water wheel at the current old mill site and draw small retail businesses to the area. Former Communities: Oakland (also known as Kline Settlement and Alert) is located within the township at Stoney Creek and Rochester Roads. This was the original settlement in the township. In its prime it had two churches and a school house. It contained the first post office in the township as well. It is now a Ghost town with only a graveyard left in the area where the town once stood. The town was established in 1822 when the post office was built. In 1894 the town changed names from Oakland to Alert and in 1902 the Alert post office closed its doors. The Paint Creek Methodist Church was moved from this town to Goodison somewhere in the 1870s. This is the last remaining building of the town. With the construction on the Michigan Central Railway which established Goodison Station, the town of Oakland was bypassed and this led to its ultimate fate.
History
Oakland Township has the distinction of being one of the Michigan's oldest townships, and was first named in surveys using the guidelines set by the Land Ordinance of 1785. A General Land Office opened in 1818, bringing the first permanent settlers to the area. It was one of the original 25 townships in the Territory of Michigan when counties were further divided into townships in 1827. Township boundaries and area (36 sq mi) were finalized in 1837 when Michigan gained statehood.
A grist mill and mill race was built on Paint Creek in 1835. Later named Goodison Mill, it operated for more than 100 years before being dismantled in the late 1940s. The former site of the mill is the current location of Paint Creek Cider Mill.
Goodison Station was a flag station built in 1872 on the Detroit and Bay City Railroad. Another branch of track served the Detroit United Railway. In 1926, a head-on collision between a passenger train and freight train near the Goodison depot resulted in one death and 36 injuries. Passenger service on the lines had ceased by 1950.
Paint Creek Trail opened in 1983 as the first rail trail in Michigan. The trail is in the right-of-way of the former Detroit and Bay City Railroad, Michigan Central Railroad and Penn Central Railroad lines; linking the village of Lake Orion with the city of Rochester and passing through the unincorporated village of Goodison. The original rail line was in service until the track was removed when Penn Central's railroad operations were taken over by Conrail in 1976 The property was purchased by the trail commission representing local governments in 1983 for $450,000.