Human History

Today Oakledge park is made up of beaches, picnic areas, tennis courts, parking lots and has a lot of human history. The first settlement of the land was by Abram Brinsmaid in 1793. Napoleon B. Proctor was a lake ship captain who owned part of the northern side. This was originally called Proctor Farm and he eventually sold the property to Dr. William Seward Webb in 1881. The cove was used for yachts, a place for his family to stay, and a summer cottage which was named Oakledge. Before buying land at Shelburne point, he constructed more on the land like stables and barns. Fredrica Webb Jones, Dr. Webb’s daughter, inherited the summer cottage and she later sold it to men who built summer cottages. Allen S. Beach, a hotel manager, had to manage the cottage as a summer resort known as Oakledge Manor. The Cliffside Country Club was bought for $230,000 by the Burlington Park Department in 1971. Oakledge Manor was burned to the ground in a controlled fire and a grant from the city which was used to build what is known as Oakledge Park today.