Home : The Voice : October 2002 

Oakland,Tennessee Church on
National Historic Register

A Service of Historical Recognition was held Sunday, August 18 at 3 p.m. at the Oakland Presbyterian Church, located on the corner of Highways 64 and 194S. This church was recently placed on the National Register of Historical Places by the United States Department of Interior. This action came as the result of a recommendation by the Tennessee Historical Society. This service provided a public occasion to celebrate officially this significant recognition for the church and the community. Dr. Sam Laine, the church’s pastor, presided over the service. The Oakland Presbyterian Church, begun in 1888, is the oldest surviving church in the town of Oakland, Tennessee.

Dr. James Hunter, who is credited with the founding of Oakland in 1835, deeded five acres near Oakland for the prosperity of the Presbyterian Church.

The present structure includes a sanctuary which is a one-story weatherboard rectangular building, constructed in 1889, and a one-story gable roof weatherboard addition, built in 1954 at the rear. The exterior of the church retains much of its original appearance and the sanctuary contains a significant number of original features such as floor, trim, chair rail, pews, pulpit and pulpit chairs. The thirty-one original wood pews are believed to have been built in Jackson, Tennessee by a maker of fine church furniture. While the building, both inside and outside, has undergone some changes in the last hundred years, it still retains a high degree of materials, design, and workmanship along with its character defining features.