Oakdale History & Cemetary Tour

Oakdale was a city unto itself employing hundreds of Lapeer area residents including me. Learn about the colorful history of The Lapeer State Home next Monday (7/11) at the Marguerite deAngeli Library in Oakdale History & Cemetary Tour at 6 PM.

Laura Fromwiller, Lapeer District Library Librarian and co-author of the book "Oakdale: The Lapeer State Home" will be sharing the State Home’s colorful history. Once known as the Michigan Home for the Feebleminded and Epileptic, the home opened in 1895 with a capacity of 200. Oakdale became a city unto itself with its own farm, dentist office, hospital and post office. At its peak in 1956, Oakdale’s campus contained hundreds of acres, housed over 4,400 patients and employed 1,500 Lapeer area residents making it one of the world’s largest facilities of its kind. The state home closed in 1991.

Following the presentation, Fromwiller will lead the participants on a walk back to Oakdale’s remaining cemetery. There is limited space for this program. For more information or to register call the library at (810) 664-6971 to register or visit www.library.lapeer.org. The library is located at 921 W Nepessing Street in Lapeer.

The Lapeer District Library and the Family Literacy Center are partners for literacy.

The Lapeer District Library serves 60,006 residents throughout Lapeer County.