Oakdale, PA

Oakdale is an Allegheny County borough west of Pittsburgh, incorporated in 1892 along Robinson Run. Its hardest local date is May 18, 1918, when an explosion at the Aetna Chemical Company plant killed 200 people; the Western Allegheny Historical Society now preserves records and artifacts from Oakdale and neighboring communities. The creek still runs through the borough's southeast side, while Pittsburgh Technical College and the West Hills branch of Community College of Allegheny County add educational institutions to the borough's map. Oakdale is a small western Pennsylvania borough where creek, factory memory, college buildings, and the roads into Pittsburgh's western suburbs share a compact map.