Thomas Oakes (engineer)

Thomas Oakes (died 1823) was the Chief Engineer of the Schuylkill Navigation Company. He was responsible for the design and early construction of the Navigation's Schuylkill River canals in the early 19th century. Oakes was also instrumental in the design of the Fairmount Water Works in Philadelphia, and its original three waterwheels in particular.

The Oakes Canal (reach) of the Schuylkill Navigation is named for him, as well as the nearby village of Oaks, Pennsylvania.

Oakes died after the completion of the Oakes Reach in 1821, from the typhoid fever that was plaguing the canal workers.