Oasis, Iowa

Oasis, Iowa
Unincorporated community
Oasis Show map of Iowa Oasis Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 41°42′22″N91°23′08″W / 41.70611°N 91.38556°W / 41.70611; -91.38556
Country	United States
State	Iowa
County	Johnson
Elevation	801 ft (244 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code	319
GNIS feature ID	464679 [1]

Oasis is an unincorporated community located in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. ^[1] It lies within section 26 of Graham Township, and was once known as Graham, Iowa. It is part of the Iowa City, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2005, the town had a total population of approximately 20. It contains several homes, a cemetery, and a functioning grain elevator. It was once a stop on the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway, later the CRI&P, whose bed has now become the Hoover Nature Trail which runs from Oasis to West Branch. West of town is the Oasis Cemetery. Oasis once featured a sign that greeted visitors, but it disappeared.

History

The Oasis Post Office operated from 1864 until 1871, when its name was changed to Graham; however the name changed back later in 1871, and the post office was then operational until 1920.

William Jayne, the first settler in Graham Township, arrived in 1840 and owned land in Oasis, as did his brother Dr David Jayne of "Jayne Patent Medicine" fame. William's eldest son, also named William Jayne, died on the 16th of March 1897, and is buried in the Oasis Cemetery. His father died in 1880 and is buried in the Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City, along with his wife Maria, the younger William's two brothers John and David, and sister Elizabeth. John's wife and their son Eben, Eben's wife Gertrude, and their three children Geraldine, Katheryne and John (with his wife Helen) are also buried in the Oakland Cemetery.

Oasis' population was 130 in 1902, ^[2] and was 115 in 1925. ^[3]

Notes

1. "Oasis, Iowa". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
2. Cram's Modern Atlas: The New Unrivaled New Census Edition. J. R. Gray & Company. 1902. pp. 203–207.
3. Premier Atlas of the World: Containing Maps of All Countries of the World, with the Most Recent Boundary Decisions, and Maps of All the States,territories, and Possessions of the United States with Population Figures from the Latest Official Census Reports, Also Data of Interest Concerning International and Domestic Political Questions. Rand McNally & Company. 1925. p. 190.

External links

• Iowa portal

• Historical note on Oasis, Iowa