The Story of My Hometown:

Oakdale, Nebraska

There’s a story to tell, a story to know

The story of my hometown, many years ago

It may look like a ghetto to you

Full of broken dreams that don’t come true

But there is history in this ground

You’ll catch a glimpse if you stick around

But things were different back then

I don’t think it will be that way again

That asphalt road, it used to be dirt

And your car broke down when your horse got hurt

The old, broken-down, houses were once majestic

But now they are weathered and quite pathetic

The town was established in 1872

And began to grow when the railroad went through

This was the oldest town and the county seat

Until 1883 when it lost in defeat

But the pioneer people, they just didn’t give up

They fought for their way of life, no matter what

Together they fought flu epidemics and drought

All they had were their neighbors and God, no doubt

The school they built in 1912 still stands today

They may have been stubborn, but they had their way

From the flour mill, to the railroad depot

They were strong and intelligent people

So don’t look down on the people here, now

A hundred years after the *Pen and The Plow

We’re still good people, so don’t look down

Every time you drive through our broken little town

* The “Pen and The Plow” refers to Oakdale’s second newspaper started in 1877