About Oakwood, Staten Island
In 1668, Francis Lovelace had been made Governor of New York Province. At this time, he granted the French Jacques Guyon with a large amount of land. On this land, Guyon built his large home, which stood until 1925. His 
estate later came to be called Oakwood. The neighborhood of Oakwood is located on the East Shore of Staten Island. It is surrounded by the neighborhoods of Great Kills, Richmondtown, and New Dorp, with the Raritan Bay to its east. The neighborhood of Oakwood has commonly been divided into two sections: Oakwood Heights, the area above Hylan Boulevard, and Oakwood Beach, the area below Hylan Boulevard. Oakwood's station on the Staten Island Railway is possibly the only evidence of this in the neighborhood, as it bears the name "Oakwood Heights". Along with its neighbors, Oakwood Beach used to be a summer resort. This lasted until the mid-1900s, as vacation trends changed and local residents traveled further away. In 1950, a sewage disposal plant was erected here.
In 1896, the Oakwood Park Hotel was built at the corner of Amboy Road and Clarke Ave. Until the 1920's, the hotel was very popular for visitors. By 1925, the building began to be used as the Elks Clubhouse. This lasted until 1942, when they found another place to hold their "Clubhouse". The building was razed five years after their departure, and a shopping center was built in place of the hotel.
In 1928, a 1-acre area of land was acquired by the city. At the time, Oakwood was populated by many Norwegians. This area of land was transformed into a park and named after the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who had discovered the South Pole and explored the North Pole at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1928, Amundsen disappeared on a rescue mission, looking for a crew whose airship had crashed while returning from an expedition from the North Pole. In 1933, a plaque was erected in the park, by the Norsemen Glee Club of Staten Island and the Norwegian Singing Society of Brooklyn, to commemorate Captain Roald Amundsen. The park has a four-and-a-half mile trail within it, which has also been named for Amundsen.
For those who didn't know, Frederick Douglass was an African American slave during the nineteenth century who had successfully escaped from his owner in 1828, when he was about twenty years old. Douglass soon became widely known as the leader of an abolitionist movement. Rodney Dade, a funeral director, strongly believed in Douglass' principles. Dade lived one century after Douglass. During his time, African Americans were often not allowed to be buried. He believed that there should be a place where African Americans could be buried with dignity. In turn, the 
Frederick Douglass Memorial Park was opened in 1935 at 3201 Amboy Road in Oakwood.
Oakwood has a diverse housing stock, Oakwood Beach was once a summer home bungalow community which eventually became year round housing. The homes provided more affordable homes as time moved on new construction an abundance of new home constructiontook place through the mid 1990's right up until today. At the time new much of the new construction was town homes and semi attached homes as much of Oakwood Beach is zoned R-3-2. Consequently, the area became a suitable for home builders to purchase land parcels that allowed for maximizing the amount of dwellings.
Just north across Hylan Blvd., sits the section of Oakwood Heights that features a much different type of home. The home styles here mostly fall in the high end home segment. Many homes on Oak Ave. are modern and older stately residences on some of the most amazing tree lined street you will find on Staten Island. However,
there are pockets of high end homes and more modestly priced homes for salein within all Oakwood's confines.
There are several schools in the area; however, there are select schools that most of the children in Oakwood attend. For public school, most kids will go to P.S. 50 at 200 Adelaide Avenue. For there, they will go on to I.S. 24 at 225 Cleveland Avenue. Most students will then attend New Dorp High School at 465 New Dorp Lane. In addition to these schools, there are a few private schools in or around Oakwood. In September of 1962, the Monsignor Farrell High School opened at 2900 Amboy Road to honor Monsignor Joseph A. Farrell, who had served from 1930 until his death in 1960 as pastor of St. Peter's Church. The other private schools in the area are the St. Charles school at 200 Penn Avenueand the Richmondtown Preparatory School at 2707 Hylan Boulevard.
Oakwood's station on the Staten Island Railway is located at Guyon Avenue and South Railroad Avenue. The s57 
bus, which travels along Bradley Avenue and Rockland Avenue to Port Richmondand New Dorp, makes a stop right by the train station. The s76, s78, and s79 along serve the neighborhood of Oakwood. The s76 travels along Richmond Road to get to St. George and Oakwood. The s78 and s79 both travel along Hylan Boulevard to get to their destinations. The s78 travels to St. Georgeand the Bricktown Mall, while the s79 travels to the Staten Island Mall and Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.