OAKLANDS ACADEMY 1882-1898 was so named because of the large oaks in the yard. It was located on a corner where Overall, Wilson, and Lytle Creek Roads meet.
William H. Smith and son, Alexander T. Smith, deeded an acre of land, June 5, 1880, to W. J. Knox and other school directors for a school in that district. Because of controversy over the location of the site, the school was not built until 1882.
In 1890, County Superintendent James P. Nelson said, “We have some of the best schools in the state in our county: Oakland High School . . . .
The school was a two-room building with a side room used as a music room.
Among the teachers were: Ara B. Campbell Sloan before 1896, Lee Yearwood, Emma Ring, 1896, John Lee, 1896, Lavata Mitchell, Flint Speer, John Northcutt, Joel Coates, Ona Morrison, Mattie Tucker, Elisha M. Harrell, Flora Montgomery, and Stanton Smith.
In 1885 the school term was for four to five months and the salary of the teachers was $45 per month.
During the winter of 1898, the OAKLANDS ACADEMY building was moved three-tenths of a mile east of Dilton store on the north side of the Bradyville Pike and became the DILTON SCHOOL.
Hoyt Smith, who now owns the Smith property on Lytle Creek Road, has sold a small acreage containing the OAKLANDS schoolhouse lot to James Howard Smith for a residence.
SOURCES: Deed Book 25, p. 212. Tennessee. Department of Public Instruction. Annual Report 1890 Nashville: Marshall and Bruce, 1981 , p. 160. *Rebecca L. Smith, History of Dilton RCHS, Summer 1977, p. 69. Information from Hoyt Smith, b. 1899, nephew of Annie Smith Lokey and son of Annie Harrell Smith. *Sarah K. Murray, daughter of Kate Dill in the
picture.