Oakville started life in the 1860s as a water stop for the steam train owned by The Napa Valley Railroad Company. The railroad, founded by early California pioneer Samuel Brannan in 1864, shuttled tourists between ferry boats that docked in Vallejo to the resort town of Calistoga. The village gained its name from the dense groves of dark green valley oaks of the area. H. W. Crabb turned Oakville from untamed country to wine country after his 1868 purchase of close to the Napa River. Crabb established a vineyard and winery naming it To Kalon, which in Greek means "the beautiful." By 1877 Crabb had planted and was producing 50,000 gallons of wine per year and by 1880, his vineyard had increased to. In 1903 the U.S. Department of Agriculture established an experimental vineyard station in Oakville. This vineyard known as "Oakville Station" is operated by the University of California, Davis. Formally declared a Napa appellation in 1993 there are currently 24 wineries and over of vineyard located within the boundary of the Oakville AVA. The Robert Mondavi Winery is located between Oakville and Rutherford, California. To Kalon was part of Mondavi's original inventory when it was established in 1965. Another Mondavi venture in Oakville is Opus One Winery. Heitz Wine Cellars' Martha's Vineyard is also located within the Oakville appellation. Modern day tourists traveling on State Route 29 often include a stop at Oakville Grocery, one of the area's few non-winery business in order to purchase picnic supplies. The Napa Valley Wine Train runs through Oakville on the same route that the original steam train ran on over in the 19th century.
The 2010 United States Census reported that Oakville had a population of 71. The population density was 52.2 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Oakville was 26 White, 0 African American, 1 Native American, 1 Asian, 1 Pacific Islander, 38 from other races, and 4 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 45 persons. The Census reported that 71 people lived in households, 0 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 were institutionalized. There were 27 households, out of which 10 had children under the age of 18 living in them, 13 were opposite-sex married couplesliving together, 3 had a female householder with no husband present, 2 had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 0 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 7 households were made up of individuals and 3 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63. There were 18 families ; the average family size was 3.28. The population was spread out with 20 people under the age of 18, 9 people aged 18 to 24, 15 people aged 25 to 44, 18 people aged 45 to 64, and 9 people who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.0 males. There were 44 housing units at an average density of 32.4 per square mile, of which 9 were owner-occupied, and 18 were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0%; the rental vacancy rate was 18.2%. 16 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 55 people lived in rental housing units.
