Founded in the 1880’s, Oakland High School took its name from the oak trees that grew in abundance at this location when the school building was constructed. The school originally had 10 grades. Mrs. Arlene Newton Richardson taught there from 1908 to 1912 and established the first home economics course taught in southwest Georgia, drawing students from as far away as Columbus and Macon, Georgia. Six students made up the last graduating class in 1929. The next year, Oakland became a junior high school. It closed in 1937 when classes were consolidated with Fort Gaines High School, and the old school building was demolished in 1957.