As a partially self-sustaining community, Oakdale included a depot on the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway (CRandIC) line,[6] power plant, several residential patient and staff buildings, pharmacy, postal and administrative units, as well as associated facilities to support varied farming operations intended to help sustain the institution, including a large dairy.

Treatment protocols during much of Oakdale's more than half-century of operation included a regimen of rest, fresh air year around,[7] and a nutritious diet.

Before its naming in 1839, TB had been called "consumption" during much of its 4,500-year history as a human disease dating from Babylonian writings and Egyptian mummies.

Beginning with just eight patients but ending its first year with 45 in residence,[2] Oakdale continued to grow, which forced repeated expansions,[8] including a major one during 1926.

Improving public health standards and development of the first drug cure for TB in 1944 caused Oakdale usage to decline and the facility was morphed briefly into an alcohol treatment center about 1960 as alternate uses were sought.