| Oakland | |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Image Map1: | Illinois in United States (US48).svg |
| Map Caption1: | Location of Illinois in the United States |
| Coordinates: | 39.6575°N -88.0278°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Coles |
| Subdivision Type3: | Township |
| Subdivision Name3: | East Oakland |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Title1: | Mayor |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 2.12 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 0.82 |
| Area Land Km2: | 2.03 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 0.78 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.09 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.04 |
| Elevation Ft: | 659 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 739 |
| Population Density Km2: | 364.64 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 943.81 |
| Timezone1: | CST |
| Utc Offset1: | -6 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | -5 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP Code(s) |
| Postal Code: | 61943 |
| Area Code: | 217 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 17-54781 |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 2395288 |
| Blank2 Name Sec2: | Wikimedia Commons |
| Blank2 Info Sec2: | Oakland, Illinois |
Oakland is a city in Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 739 at the 2020 census.
Oakland, formerly known as Independence, was platted in 1833.
Pioneer doctor and abolitionist Hiram Rutherford moved to Oakland in 1840 to start his practice in the young town. He became a prominent citizen. Rutherford is best known for his involvement in the 1847 Matson Trial, which involved his friend Abraham Lincoln. A Kentucky slave owner, General Robert Matson, annually brought slaves to work on his land near Oakland. One year, a family of slaves ran away from the farm and took refuge with Rutherford and Gideon Ashmore. Matson sued the men for harboring slaves; Rutherford and Ashmore countered that the slaves could not legally be held in a free state. Rutherford attempted to have Lincoln represent him in the case, but Lincoln had already agreed to represent the slave owner. Matson, represented by Lincoln, lost the case in Coles County court.[2]
Rutherford's home and office, as well as other historic sites, are maintained and available for tours.
According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Oakland has a total area of 0.82sqmi, of which 0.78sqmi (or 95.60%) is land and 0.04sqmi (or 4.40%) is water.[3]
As of the 2020 census[4] there were 739 people, 494 households, and 272 families residing in the city. The population density was 902.32PD/sqmi. There were 387 housing units at an average density of 472.53/sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 94.72% White, 0.41% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 0.27% from other races, and 4.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.17% of the population.
There were 494 households, out of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.71% were married couples living together, 1.82% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.94% were non-families. 42.11% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.22% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.93 and the average family size was 2.15.
The city's age distribution consisted of 25.0% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 18.1% from 25 to 44, 28.6% from 45 to 64, and 20.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $41,806, and the median income for a family was $64,000. Males had a median income of $41,816 versus $25,288 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,515. About 8.5% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.5% of those under age 18 and 8.4% of those age 65 or over.
Coles County Zipline provides dial-a-ride bus transit service to the city. The nearest passenger rail service is at Mattoon station, where Amtrak operates to Chicago, Carbondale, New Orleans, and other destinations.