Oxford, MS
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Oxford is a city and
college town A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several sma ...
in the U.S. state of
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...
, Tennessee, and is the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. The
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...
, also known as "Ole Miss" is located adjacent to the city. Purchasing the land from a Chickasaw, pioneers founded Oxford in 1837. In 1841, the
Mississippi State Legislature The Mississippi Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The bicameral Legislature is composed of the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, with 122 members, and the upper Mississippi State Senate, with 52 me ...
selected it as the site of the state's first university, Ole Miss. Oxford is also the hometown of
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
-winning novelist
William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...
, and served as the inspiration for his fictional Jefferson in Yoknapatawpha County.
Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II (September 17, 1825January 23, 1893) was an American politician, diplomat, and jurist. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Mississippi in both houses of Congress, served as the United States Se ...
, who served as a US Supreme Court Justice and
Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also

*Interior ministry ...
, also lived and is buried in Oxford. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 25,416.


History

Oxford and Lafayette County were formed from lands ceded by the
Chickasaw people The Chickasaw ( ) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee as well in southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classified as ...
in the
Treaty of Pontotoc Creek The Treaty of Pontotoc Creek was a treaty signed on October 20, 1832 by representatives of the United States and the Chiefs of the Chickasaw Nation assembled at the National Council House on Pontotoc Creek in Pontotoc, Mississippi. The treaty cede ...
in 1832. The county was organized in 1836, and in 1837 three pioneers—John Martin, John Chisom, and John Craig—purchased land from Hoka, a female Chickasaw landowner, as a site for the town. They named it "Oxford", intending to promote it as a center of learning in the
Old Southwest Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...
. In 1841, the Mississippi legislature selected Oxford as the site of the state university, which opened in 1848. During the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, Oxford was occupied by
Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
troops under Generals
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
and
William T. Sherman William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
in 1862; in 1864 Major General
Andrew Jackson Smith Andrew Jackson Smith (April 28, 1815January 30, 1897) was a United States Army general during the American Civil War, rising to the command of a corps. He was most noted for his victory over Confederate General Stephen D. Lee at the Battle of Tu ...
burned the buildings in the town square, including the county courthouse. In the postwar
Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...
, the town recovered slowly, aided by federal judge Robert Andrews Hill, who secured funds to build a new courthouse in 1872. During this period many African American
freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...
moved from farms into town and established a neighborhood known as "Freedmen Town", where they built houses, businesses, churches and schools, and exercised all the rights of citizenship. Even after Mississippi
disenfranchised Disfranchisement, also called disenfranchisement, or voter disqualification is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing a person exercising the right to vote. D ...
most African Americans in the 1890
Constitution of Mississippi The Constitution of Mississippi is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of Mississippi delineating the duties, powers, structures, and functions of the state government. Mississippi's original constitution was adopted at a constitut ...
, they continued to build their lives in the face of discrimination. During the
Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
, Oxford drew national attention in the
Ole Miss riot of 1962 The Ole Miss riot of 1962 (September 30 – October 1, 1962), also known as the Battle of Oxford, was a violent disturbance that occurred at the University of Mississippi—commonly called Ole Miss—in Oxford, Mississippi. Segregationist r ...
. State officials, including Governor
Ross Barnett Ross Robert Barnett (January 22, 1898November 6, 1987) was the Governor of Mississippi from 1960 to 1964. He was a Southern Democrat who supported racial segregation. Early life Background and learning Born in Standing Pine in Leake Count ...
, prevented
James Meredith James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) is an American civil rights activist, writer, political adviser, and Air Force veteran who became, in 1962, the first African-American student admitted to the racially segregated University of Mississ ...
, an African American, from enrolling at the
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...
, even after the federal courts had ruled that he be admitted. Following secret face-saving negotiations with Barnett, President
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
ordered 127
U.S. Marshals The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...
, 316 deputized
U.S. Border Patrol The United States Border Patrol (USBP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States' U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Customs and Border Protection and is responsible for securing ...
agents and 97 federalized
Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...
officers to accompany Meredith. Thousands of armed "volunteers" flowed into the Oxford area. Meredith traveled to Oxford under armed guard to register, but riots by segregationists broke out in protest of his admittance. That night, cars were burned, federal law enforcement were pelted with rocks, bricks and small arms fire, and university property was damaged by 3,000 rioters. Two civilians were killed by gunshot wounds, and the riot spread into adjacent areas of the city of Oxford. Order was finally restored to the campus with the early morning arrival of 3,000 nationalized
Mississippi National Guard The Mississippi National Guard (MSNG), commonly known as the Mississippi Guard, is both a Mississippi state and a federal government organization, part of the United States National Guard. It is part of the Mississippi Military Department, a state ...
and federal troops, who camped in the city. More than 3,000 journalists came to Oxford on September 26, 2008, to cover the first presidential debate of 2008, which was held at the University of Mississippi.


Geography

Oxford is in central Lafayette County in northern Mississippi, about south-southeast of
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , of which are land and , or 0.35%, is water. The campus of the
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...
, west of downtown, is an unincorporated area surrounded by the city. The city is located in the North Central Hills region of Mississippi. The region is known for its heavily forested hills made up of red clay. The area is higher and greater in relief than areas to the west (such as the
Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo ...
or loess bluffs along the Delta), but lower in elevation than areas in northeast Mississippi. The changes in elevation can be noticed when traveling on the Highway 6 bypass, since the east-west highway tends to transect many of the north-south ridges. Downtown Oxford sits on one of these ridges and the University of Mississippi sits on another one, while the main commercial corridors on either side of the city sit in valleys. Oxford is located at the confluence of highways from eight directions:
Mississippi Highway 6 Mississippi Highway 6 (MS 6) runs east–west from MS 161 in Lyon, east to MS 25 near Amory. It travels approximately , serving Coahoma, Quitman, Panola, Lafayette, Pontotoc, Lee, and Monroe Counties. West of Tupelo, it is concu ...
(now co-signed with US-278) runs west to Batesville and east to Pontotoc; Highway 7 runs north to Holly Springs and south to Water Valley.
Highway 30 The following highways are numbered 30: International * Asian Highway 30 * European route E30 Australia * Albany Highway (State Route 30, Western Australia) Brazil * BR-030 Canada * Alberta Highway 30 (defunct) * British Columbia Highway 30 ...
goes northeast to New Albany; Highway 334 ("Old Highway 6") leads southeast to Toccopola; Taylor Road leads southwest to
Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) **List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) Plac ...
; and Highway 314 ("Old Sardis Road") leads northwest, formerly to
Sardis Sardis () or Sardes (; Lydian: 𐤳𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣 ''Sfard''; el, Σάρδεις ''Sardeis''; peo, Sparda; hbo, ספרד ''Sfarad'') was an ancient city at the location of modern ''Sart'' (Sartmahmut before 19 October 2005), near Salihli, ...
but now to the Clear Creek Recreation Area on Sardis Lake. The streets in the downtown area follow a grid pattern with two
naming conventions A naming convention is a convention (generally agreed scheme) for naming things. Conventions differ in their intents, which may include to: * Allow useful information to be deduced from the names based on regularities. For instance, in Manhatta ...
. Many of the north-south streets are numbered from west to east, beginning at the old railroad depot, with numbers from four to nineteen. The place of "Twelfth Street", however, is taken by North and South Lamar Boulevard (formerly North Street and South Street). The east-west avenues are named for the U.S. presidents in chronological order from north to south, from
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
to
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
; here again, there are gaps: there is no street for
John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States S ...
, who shares a last name with
John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
; "Polk Avenue" is replaced by University Avenue; and "Arthur Avenue" is lacking.


Climate

Oxford has a
humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
(''Cfa'') and is in
hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...
7b.


Demographics


2020 census

As of the
2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
, there were 25,416 people, 10,351 households, and 5,089 families residing in the city.


2010 census

As of the
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, there were 18,916 people, with 8,648 households residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 72.3%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 21.8%
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.3% Native American, 3.3%
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.1%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, and 1.1% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
people of any race were 2.5% of the population. The average household size was 2.09. The median income for a household in the city was $38,872, and the average household income was $64,643. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...
for the city was $29,195. About 12% of families and 32.3% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
.


Arts and culture


Attractions

In addition to the historic Lafayette County Courthouse, the Square is known for an abundance of locally owned restaurants, specialty boutiques, and professional offices, along with Oxford City Hall. * The J. E. Neilson Co., located on the southeast corner of the Square, is the South's oldest documented store. Founded as a trading post in 1839, Neilson's continues to anchor the Oxford square. Neilsons (pronounced Nelsons) was one of the few stores to survive the burning of Oxford during the Civil war. It stands within eyesight of one of Oxford's two confederate statues (one was erected after the original faced south because the South "never retreats;" a Falkner (William added a "U") paid for the second). Neilson's also features a letter from William Faulkner, who repeatedly refused to pay debts owed to the department store. When the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
hit Oxford and most of the banks in town closed, Neilson's acted as a surrogate bank, cashing paychecks for university employees and others. Neilson's is also the only store in Oxford to carry supplies for Boy Scout uniforms. The Boy Scout culture is rich in Oxford, In 2020, 14-year-old Keerthin Karthikeyan, possibly the most prolific Boy Scout in Oxford's history, was selected out of 2.2 million to be a delegate in the 2019 Report to the Nation, the most prestigious position in the history of Boy Scouts of America. As a delegate, he met with several national figures such as President Donald Trump, Madame Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and retired attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky and the Senate minority leader since 2021. Currently in his seventh term, McConne ...
. *
Square Books Square Books is a general independent bookstore in three separate historic buildings (about 100 feet apart) on the town square of Oxford, Mississippi, widely known among readers as the hub of William Faulkner's "postage stamp of native soil," Yokn ...
, founded in 1979, is an
independent bookstore An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned. Usually, independent stores consist of only a single actual store (although there are some multi-store independents). They may be structured as sole proprietorships, cl ...
. A sister store, Off Square Books, is several doors down the street to the east. It deals in used and remainder books and is the venue for a radio show called ''Thacker Mountain Radio'', with host Jim Dees, that is broadcast statewide on Mississippi Public Broadcasting. The show often draws comparisons to
Garrison Keillor Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (; born August 7, 1942) is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show ''A Prairie Home Companion'' (called ''Garrison Keillor's Radio ...
's ''
A Prairie Home Companion ''A Prairie Home Companion'' is a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...
'' for its mix of author readings and musical guests. A third store, Square Books Jr., deals exclusively in children's books and educational toys. * The Lyric Theater, just off the courthouse square, is Oxford's largest music venue, with a capacity near 1200. Originally built in the late 1800s, the structure became a livery stable owned by William Faulkner's family in the early part of the 20th century. During the 1920s it became Oxford's first motion picture theater, the Lyric. In 1949, Faulkner walked from his home in Oxford to his childhood stable for the world premiere of MGM's ''Intruder in the Dust'', adapted from one of his novels. The building housed office space and a health center from the early 1980s. After extensive restoration, the Lyric reopened on 3 July 2008 as a live music venue. It also is used occasionally for film and live drama. * The Gertrude Castellow Ford Center for the Performing Arts on the
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...
's campus hosts a broad range of events, such as symphony performances, operas, musicals, plays, comedy tours, chamber music, and guest lectures. The Ford Center, as it is commonly known, also hosted the 2008 Presidential Debate between former President Barack Obama and Senator John McCain. * The University of Mississippi Museum is located on the University of Mississippi's main campus. The Robinson collection of Greek and Roman antiquities and the Millington-Barnard collection of 19th century scientific instruments are permanent collections of the museum. The museum is also home to the personal collections of Kate Skipwith and Mary Buie. The permanent exhibits are free to the public. * The Burns-Belfry Museum was previously the Burns Methodist Episcopal Church organized by freed African Americans in 1910. Now, the museum pays tribute to its role in the Civil War era. The museum houses a permanent exhibit on African American history that spans from slavery through the Civil Rights Movement.


Culture

* Oxford has had a diverse music scene for many years. Oxford's relatively close proximity to large music cities such as
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...
,
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
, and
Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
, influence its musical stylings. Musicians past and present living in Oxford include Beanland,
The Cooters The Cooters are an American rock band from Oxford, Mississippi. Based out of the northern hill country town of Oxford (home of Ole Miss), the band has been touring and recording since 1993. The Cooters are well known in the region. While rec ...
,
Bass Drum of Death Bass Drum of Death is an American garage punk band from Oxford, Mississippi, United States, currently signed to Fat Possum Records. History The band's frontman, John Barrett, formed Bass Drum of Death in 2008 as a one-man-band, playing both his ...
, Kudzu Kings, Blue Mountain,
George McConnell George McConnell is an American singer from Vicksburg, Mississippi. He played for the bands Widespread Panic, Kudzu Kings, and Beanland. History George McConnell attended the University of Mississippi, where he was in the Sigma Alpha Epsilo ...
,
Caroline Herring Caroline Herring (born 1969 in Canton, Mississippi) is an American folk and country singer, songwriter and musician. She started singing professionally when she was a graduate student at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the Unive ...
and blues
harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...
player
Adam Gussow Adam Gussow (born April 3, 1958) is an American scholar, memoirist, and blues harmonica player. He is currently a professor of English and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. Life and career Gussow spent twelve years (1 ...
. * Oxford is also the home of the music label
Fat Possum Records Fat Possum Records is an American independent record label based in Water Valley and Oxford, Mississippi. At first Fat Possum focused almost entirely on recording previously unknown Mississippi blues artists (typically from Oxford or Holly Sprin ...
, who released records by blues legends
R. L. Burnside R. L. Burnside (November 23, 1926 – September 1, 2005) was an American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He played music for much of his life but received little recognition before the early 1990s. In the latter half of that decade, Bur ...
and
Junior Kimbrough David "Junior" Kimbrough (July 28, 1930 – January 17, 1998) was an American blues musician. His best-known works are "Keep Your Hands off Her" and "All Night Long". Early life Kimbrough was born in Hudsonville, Mississippi, and lived in the no ...
, as well as
The Black Keys The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing their ...
.
Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...
, former
guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...
for
The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...
and current member of
Modest Mouse Modest Mouse is an American rock band formed in 1992 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members are lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. Strongly influenced ...
bought a home in Oxford but no longer lives in it. Former
Derek and the Dominos Derek and the Dominos was an English–American blues rock band formed in the spring of 1970 by guitarist and singer Eric Clapton, keyboardist and singer Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon. All four members had previou ...
member
Bobby Whitlock Robert Stanley Whitlock (born March 18, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as a member of the blues-rock band Derek and the Dominos, with Eric Clapton, in 1970–71. Whitlock's musical career began with Memph ...
lived in Oxford where he had a ranch and his own studio. * Musicians
Modest Mouse Modest Mouse is an American rock band formed in 1992 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members are lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. Strongly influenced ...
,
Gavin Degraw Gavin Shane DeGraw (born February 4, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. DeGraw rose to fame with his song "I Don't Want to Be" from his debut album '' Chariot'' (2003); the song became the main theme song for The WB drama series ''One Tree ...
,
Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...
,
The Hives The Hives are a Swedish rock band that rose to prominence in the early 2000s during the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the album ''Veni Vidi Vicious'', containing the single "Hate to Say I Told You So". T ...
, and
Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist Mil ...
have recorded albums at
Sweet Tea Recording Studio Sweet Tea Recording Studio is a 24-track recording studio in Oxford, Mississippi owned by producer Dennis Herring and operated by Dawn Palladino. It is located near the Oxford square and has clients ranging from Buddy Guy to Modest Mouse. Musici ...
in Oxford. Dennis Herring, the owner of Sweet Tea, has received Grammy awards for his work with artists such as Jars of Clay and blues great
Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray V ...
. *
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
wrote a song called "
Oxford Town "Oxford Town" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan in 1962. It was recorded in Columbia's Studio A on December 6, 1962, for his second album, ''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan''. The song was composed in response to an open invit ...
", which was included on his album
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan ''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on May 27, 1963 by Columbia Records. Whereas his self-titled debut album ''Bob Dylan'' had contained only two original songs, this album r ...
. The song was about the violent events surrounding the admission of
James Meredith James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) is an American civil rights activist, writer, political adviser, and Air Force veteran who became, in 1962, the first African-American student admitted to the racially segregated University of Mississ ...
into the
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...
in 1962. Dylan played a memorable concert at the Tad Smith Coliseum on the Ole Miss campus in November 1990, which opened with a performance of the song ''Oxford Town''. * Oxford has been the setting for numerous movies, including ''
Intruder in the Dust ''Intruder in the Dust '' is a 1948 crime novel written by American author William Faulkner. Taking place in Mississippi, it revolves around an African American farmer accused of murdering a Caucasian man. Overview The novel focuses on Lucas B ...
'' (1949, based on the Faulkner novel), '' Home from the Hill'' (1960), ''Barn Burning'' (1980, based on the Faulkner short story), ''Rush'' (1981 documentary), '' Heart of Dixie'' (1989), ''
The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag ''The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag'' is a 1992 American screwball comedy film directed by Allan Moyle and produced by Scott Kroopf. It stars Penelope Ann Miller, Eric Thal, William Forsythe, Cathy Moriarty and Alfre Woodard. Rock and roll recordi ...
'' (1992), ''Glorious Mail'' (2005), ''Sorry, We're Open'' (2008 documentary), ''The Night of the Loup Garou'' (2009), ''Where I Begin'' (2010), and parts of ''
The People vs. Larry Flynt ''The People vs. Larry Flynt'' is a 1996 American Biographical film, biographical drama film directed by Miloš Forman, chronicling the rise of pornographer Larry Flynt and his subsequent clash with religious institutions and the law. It stars Wo ...
'' (1997). * American journalist and novelist
Joan Didion Joan Didion (; December 5, 1934 – December 23, 2021) was an American writer. Along with Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson and Gay Talese, she is considered one of the pioneers of New Journalism. Didion's career began in the 1950s after she won an ...
mentions Oxford in her collection of essays
The White Album (book) ''The White Album'' is a 1979 book of essays by Joan Didion. Like her previous book '' Slouching Towards Bethlehem'', ''The White Album'' is a collection of works previously published in magazines such as ''Life'' and '' Esquire''. The subjects o ...
.


Historic sites

See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Lafayette County, Mississippi __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Lafayette County, Mississippi. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Lafayette Coun ...
and the Lyceum-The Circle Historic District, University of Mississippi. *
Ammadelle Ammadelle is a historic house at 637 North Lamar Boulevard in Oxford, Mississippi. Built in 1859, it is an Italianate mansion designed by Calvert Vaux, which he regarded as one of his finest works. It was designated a National Historic Landmark ...
(Pegues House), designed by
Calvert Vaux Calvert Vaux (; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American architect and landscape designer, best known as the co-designer, along with his protégé and junior partner Frederick Law Olmsted, of what would become New York Ci ...
*
Barnard Observatory Barnard Observatory is an academic building at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. Completed as an observatory in 1859, it was part of the astronomy focus that chancellor Frederick A.P. Barnard had for the school. Due to the o ...
(
Center for the Study of Southern Culture The Center for the Study of Southern Culture (CSSC), located in Barnard Observatory on the University of Mississippi campus in Oxford, Mississippi, is an academic organization dedicated to the investigation, documentation, interpretation and teac ...
), University of Mississippi, 1859 * Isom Place, ca. 1843, remodeled 1848 * Lafayette County Courthouse, 1872, designed by Willis, Sloan, and Trigg * Lucius Q. C. Lamar House, ca. 1860 * The Lyceum, University of Mississippi, 1848, designed by William Nichols *
Rowan Oak Rowan Oak is William Faulkner's former home in Oxford, Mississippi. It is a primitive Greek Revival house built in the 1840s by Colonel Robert Sheegog, an Irish immigrant planter from Tennessee. Faulkner purchased the house when it was in disrepai ...
(William Faulkner House), 1848 * St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 1860, attributed to
Richard Upjohn Richard Upjohn (22 January 1802 – 16 August 1878) was a British-born American architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches. He was partially responsible for launching the movement to su ...
(Neo-Gothic) *
University of Mississippi Power House The University of Mississippi Power House was located on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. The original building was constructed in 1908 as a central power plant for the entire campus. Author William Faulkner was e ...
, site of William Faulkner's composition of ''
As I Lay Dying ''As I Lay Dying'' is a 1930 Southern Gothic novel by American author William Faulkner. Faulkner's fifth novel, it is consistently ranked among the best novels of 20th-century literature.The New Lifetime Reading Plan: The Classical Guide to Wor ...
'' * Ventress Hall, University of Mississippi, 1889 (Richardson Romanesque)


Education

The city is served by two public school districts, Oxford School District (with the majority of the area) and Lafayette County School District (with small outerlying sections). The former operates Oxford High School. It is also served by three private schools: Oxford University School, Regents School of Oxford and Magnolia Montessori. Oxford is partially the home of the main campus of the
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...
, known as "Ole Miss" (much of the campus is in
University, Mississippi University is a census-designated place (CDP) and the official name for an area covering a portion of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) campus, in Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. The CDP is surrounded by the city of Oxford ...
, an unincorporated enclave surrounded by the city), and of the Lafayette-Yalobusha Center of
Northwest Mississippi Community College Northwest Mississippi Community College is a public community college in Senatobia, Mississippi. It was founded in 1928. As of August 2008, Northwest's enrollment exceeds 7,100 students. There are approximately 3,000 students on the Senatobia ca ...
. The North Mississippi Japanese Supplementary School, a Japanese weekend school, is operated in conjunction with the University of Mississippi, with classes held on campus.Japanese Supplementary School
" OGE-US Japan Partnership,
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...
. Retrieved on February 25, 2015.


Media

* ''The Oxford Eagle'', founded 1865 * ''
The Daily Mississippian ''The Daily Mississippian'', commonly called ''The DM'', is the student newspaper of the University of Mississippi. The first issue of The Mississippian was published in 1911. It is operated as an independent student-run newspaper, and is publis ...
'', the student newspaper of The University of Mississippi, founded 1911 * ''The Local Voice'', a bimonthly entertainment guide and newspaper


Infrastructure


Health care

The Baptist Memorial Hospital - North Mississippi, located in Oxford provides comprehensive health care services for Oxford and the surrounding area, supported by a growing number of physicians, clinics and support facilities. The North Mississippi Regional Center, a state-licensed Intermediate Care Facility for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/IID), is located in Oxford. Oxford is home to the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi's School of Pharmacy. The Center is the only facility in the United States that is federally licensed to cultivate
marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
for scientific research, and to distribute it to
medical marijuana Medical cannabis, or medical marijuana (MMJ), is cannabis and cannabinoids that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has not been rigorously tested due to production and governmental restrictions ...
patients.


Transportation

The city operates public transportation under the name Oxford-University Transit (OUT), with bus routes throughout the city and University of Mississippi campus. Ole Miss students and faculty ride free upon showing University identification.
Mississippi Central Railroad Mississippi Central Railroad (reporting mark MSCI) is a short line railroad operating over 51 miles from Oxford, Mississippi, to Grand Junction, Tennessee, owned by Pioneer Railcorp. The railroad's principal commodities are wood products and ...
provides freight rail service to the Lafayette County Industrial Park in Oxford.
University-Oxford Airport University-Oxford Airport is a public use airport located two nautical miles (4 kilometre, km) northwest of the central business district of Oxford, Mississippi, Oxford, a city in Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. The airport ...
is a public use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) northwest of the central business district of Oxford. The airport is owned by the University of Mississippi.


Notable people

*
William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...
grew up in Oxford and used it as the fictional city of "Jefferson". * Authors include
John Grisham John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas) is an American novelist, lawyer and former member of the 7th district of the Mississippi House of Representatives, known for his popular legal thrillers. According to the Am ...
,
Kiese Laymon Kiese Laymon (born August 15, 1974, Jackson, Mississippi) is a Black southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. He is a professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University. He is the author of three full-length books: a novel, ''Long D ...
,
Curtis Wilkie Curtis Wilkie (born 1940) is a retired newspaper reporter, college professor and historian of the American South. He is the author of numerous books including ''When Evil Lived in Laurel: The White Knights and the Murder of Vernon Dahmer'' and ...
,
Ace Atkins Ace Atkins (born June 28, 1970) is an American journalist and author. He became a Full-time job, full-time novelist at the age of 30. Biography Born in 1970, Atkins is the son of National Football League, NFL player Billy Atkins (American footbal ...
,
Chris Offutt Christopher John Offutt (born August 24, 1958) is an American writer. He is most widely known for his short stories and novels, but he has also published three memoirs and multiple nonfiction articles. In 2005, he had a story included in a comic ...
,
Howard Bahr Howard Bahr (born 1946) is an American novelist, born in Meridian, Mississippi. Early life Bahr, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War and then worked for several years on the railroads, enrolled at the University of Mississippi i ...
,
Richard Ford Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel '' The Sportswriter'' and its sequels, '' Independence Day'', ''The Lay of the Land'' and ''Let Me Be Frank With You'', and t ...
, Tom Franklin,
Beth Ann Fennelly Beth Ann Fennelly (born May 22, 1971) is an American poet and prose writer and was the Poet Laureate of Mississippi. __TOC__ Biography She was born in New Jersey and raised in Lake Forest, Illinois. She attended Woodlands Academy of the Sacred ...
, Ann Fisher-Wirth,
Wright Thompson Wright Thompson (born September 9, 1976) is a senior writer for ESPN.com and ''ESPN The Magazine''. He formerly worked at ''The Kansas City Star'' and ''Times-Picayune'' in New Orleans. Thompson's topics have covered a wide range of sports issues ...
,
Stark Young Stark Young (October 11, 1881 – January 6, 1963) was an American teacher, playwright, novelist, painter, literary critic, translator, and essayist. Early life Stark Young was born on October 11, 1881 in Como, Mississippi. His father, Alfre ...
, Larry Brown,
Willie Morris William Weaks Morris (November 29, 1935 – August 2, 1999) was an American writer and editor born in Jackson, Mississippi, though his family later moved to Yazoo City, Mississippi, which he immortalized in his works of prose. Morris' tradem ...
, and
Barry Hannah Barry Hannah (April 23, 1942 – March 1, 2010) was an American novelist and short story writer from Mississippi.Kellogg, Carolyn (March 2, 2010)"Author Barry Hannah, 67, has died" ''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved May 18, 2013. Hannah was born in ...
. * Artists include
photorealist Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium. Although the term can ...
painter
Glennray Tutor Glennray Tutor (born 1950 in Kennett, Missouri) is an American painter who is known for his photorealistic paintings. He is considered to be part of the Photorealism art movement.Eric Gibson, "Outward Bound: American Art on the Brink of the Twen ...
, figurative painter
Jere Allen Jere Allen is a visual artist and a former professor of art at the University of Mississippi. Life Allen was born in 1944 in Selma, Alabama. He received a BFA degree from the Ringling School of Art, and an MFA from the University of Tennessee. ...
, and primitive artist Theora Hamblett (1895–1977). *
Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also

*Interior ministry ...
Jacob Thompson Jacob Thompson (May 15, 1810 – March 24, 1885) was the United States Secretary of the Interior, who resigned on the outbreak of the American Civil War and became the Inspector General of the Confederate States Army. In 1864, Jefferson Davis ...
(1810–1885) owned a manor called "Home Place" in Oxford that was burned during the Civil War by Union troops. A historical marker stands where it once stood. * L.Q.C. Lamar (1825–1893), U.S. senator and supreme court justice, resided in Oxford, where he served as professor of mathematics at the University of Mississippi, farmed, and practiced law. He was the son-in-law of university chancellor
Augustus Baldwin Longstreet Augustus Baldwin Longstreet (September 22, 1790 – July 9, 1870) was an American lawyer, minister, educator, and humorist, known for his book ''Georgia Scenes''. He was the uncle of the senior Confederate General James Longstreet. He held p ...
. Lamar's home in Oxford was restored as a museum in 2008. *
Angela McGlowan Angela McGlowan (born March 2, 1970) is an American Republican political commentator, best-selling author, and CEO of Political Strategies & Insights (PSI), a government affairs, political strategy, public relations, and advocacy consulting firm ...
(born 1970), Republican political commentator, author, and consulting firm CEO *
Naomi Sims Naomi Ruth Sims (March 30, 1948 – August 1, 2009) was an American model, businesswoman, and author, She was the first African-American model to appear on the cover of ''Ladies' Home Journal'', which occurred in November 1968, and is widely cr ...
(1948-2009), fashion model, was born in Oxford. *
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
quarterback
Eli Manning Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning football dynasty, he is the youngest son o ...
, who played college football at Ole Miss, lives in Oxford during the off-season. His father, former Ole Miss and
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
quarterback
Archie Manning Elisha Archibald Manning III (born May 19, 1949) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New Orleans Saints. He played for the Saints from 1971 to 1982 and al ...
, owns a condominium in Oxford.


Sister city

*
Aubigny-sur-Nère Aubigny-sur-Nère () is a town and commune in the Cher department in the administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. Geography An area of forestry and farming surrounding a small light industrial town, situated in the valley of the ri ...
,
Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...
, France


References


External links


City of Oxford official website

Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce

Oxford Tourism Council
{{Authority control Cities in Mississippi County seats in Mississippi Cities in Lafayette County, Mississippi Micropolitan areas of Mississippi Populated places established in 1837 1837 establishments in Mississippi