OAKLAND

More than 100 years ago, Oakland was the industrial and social hub of Orange County. Today the picturesque town, which lies two miles west of Winter Garden on the southern shores of Lake Apopka, is home to just 1,800 people.

Elected officials still refer to Oakland as a town, although it was incorporated as a city in 1959. The city designation does seem a bit incongruous for this rural enclave, where voters have rejected proposals to pave the narrow clay streets for fear that more people might want to drive on them.

Still, change is coming. Oakland's population has nearly tripled over the past three years, and planners say 5,000 people will call themselves Oaklanders by 2010.

Much of the growth has come from new gated subdivisions on the south side of S.R. 50, where some residents feel little connection to "old" Oakland and its small-town traditions.

Bringing longtime residents and newcomers together, however, is the Oakland Avenue Charter School, which was built using an $8 million, 30-year bond issue. The idea, say city officials, is to unite the community's disparate elements behind a community institution that benefits everyone.

Among the city's other assets is the 19-mile West Orange Trail, a mecca for hikers and bikers, beginning in Oakland and stretching northeast to Apopka along the original Orange Belt and Florida Midland rail beds. More than 50,000 people traverse the trail every month.

Oakland is also home to the 93-acre Oakland Nature Preserve, where wildlife abounds and paths and boardwalks line the shores of Lake Apopka.