Lake Elmo, Washington County, Minnesota, was named by A. B. Stickney, now of St. Paul, Minn.,, from a nearby lake, that had been named from the novel “St. Elmo.” The town was formerly called Oakdale from the many Black Oak (Quercus nigra) trees that grow hereabouts. It is not known where the novelist found the name for her book, but it is supposed she “evolved it out of the depth of her own consciousness.” She did not get it from that corposant known as “St. Elmo’s fire,” which was named for St. Elmo, the patron saint of navigators.Oakdale, Minnesota (Wikipedia)
Oakdale is a city in Washington County, Minnesota, United States. It is a suburb of Saint Paul and is on the eastern side of the Twin Cities Metropolitan area. The population was 28,303 at the 2020 census. Oakdale is the 36th largest city in Minnesota by population.Oakdale, Washington County, Minnesota, was so named because when established, the location was adjacent to a grove of oak trees in a little valley or “dale.”![Washington County Minnesota Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Oakdale Highlighted.svg (Wikimedia Commons)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Washington_County_Minnesota_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Oakdale_Highlighted.svg/308px-Washington_County_Minnesota_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Oakdale_Highlighted.svg.png)