Oxford

Oxford, Mississippi
—  City  —
Location of Oxford, Mississippi
Coordinates: 34°21′35″N 89°31′34″W / 34.35972°N 89.52611°W / 34.35972; -89.52611
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Lafayette
Government
- Mayor	George "Pat" Patterson (D)
Area
- Total	10.0 sq mi (25.8 km2)
- Land	10.0 sq mi (25.8 km2)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	505 ft (154 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	11,756
- Density	1,179.1/sq mi (455.3/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	38655
Area code(s)	662
FIPS code	28-54840
GNIS feature ID	0691644

A British double-decker tourist bus and the Confederate battle jack (part of the Mississippi state flag) make a contrast by the Lafayette County Courthouse in Oxford, Mississippi, during the 2007 Double Decker Festival.

Oxford is a city and the county seat^[1] of Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1835, it was named after the British university city of Oxford in hopes of having the state university located there, which it did successfully attract.

The population is about 19,000, due to the city's recent annexation of five square miles of Lafayette County in all directions.^[2] Oxford is the home of the University of Mississippi, founded in 1848, also known as "Ole Miss."

Oxford has been named by USA Today as one of the top six college towns in the nation. It is included in The Best 100 Small Towns in America. Lafayette County consistently leads the state rankings in the lowest unemployment rate per quarter. Both Oxford city and Lafayette County school systems are consistently ranked as "5-star" systems; the highest rating available.

History

Oxford became a center of culture as the location of the University of Mississippi, founded in 1848 as the first rank college of the state. The university was segregated until 1962.

In a pattern typical of many areas, after the Civil War numerous freedmen moved from farms into town to establish their own community. They called their neighborhood "Freedmen Town". They built houses, businesses, churches and schools, eagerly embracing education. They exercised all the rights of citizenship.^[3] Even after Mississippi disenfranchised most African Americans and poor whites with provisions of its new constitution in 1890, they proceeded to build their lives in the face of discrimination.

During the Civil Rights Movement, Oxford gained national attention in 1962 as a combination of the governor and University of Mississippi officials attempted to prevent James Meredith from integrating the University of Mississippi after he won a federal court case for admittance. Meredith began his quest for admission in January 1961, after watching John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech. Meredith sent a letter to the Registrar of The University of Mississippi requesting a catalog and an application for admission. University officials responded promptly with the materials and invited Meredith to apply. When officials learned from Meredith that he was African-American, his application was immediately rejected without comment, and Meredith's legal battles with the University began. Meredith was finally admitted in the summer of 1962 by a federal court in New Orleans, and made preparations to begin his studies in the fall of 1962. President John F. Kennedy, after secret telephone negotiations with Governor Ross Barnett, ordered United States Marshals to protect Meredith. Meredith traveled to Oxford under armed guard to register in late September 1962. Due primarily to Governor Barnett's political posturing and Attorney General Robert Kennedy's eagerness to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, riots broke out in protest of his admittance. Thousands of armed "volunteers" flowed into the Oxford area to prevent Meredith's admittance. During the rioting, late on the evening of Sunday, September 30, 1962, two men, a French journalist sent to cover the events, and a Lafayette County resident, Ray Gunter, were killed by stray bullets. During the riots by segregationists, cars were burned, federal marshals were pelted with rocks, bricks, small arms fire and university property was damaged. The Mississippi Highway Patrol, on campus to supposedly provide security for the University and for Meredith, stood by passively while the riots were taking place.

Order was restored to the campus with the early morning arrival of the U. S. Army. Although President John F. Kennedy had mobilized the Army and ordered them onto the campus early on the evening of the riot, poor communication delayed their arrival in force until the following morning (Monday, October 1). Meredith enrolled that morning without incident and attended for the rest of the school year, graduating in August 1963 with a degree in history. During his time at the University, Meredith lived in Baxter Hall, which is now the telecommunications center for the university. A plaque has been placed inside the front entrance to Baxter Hall which recounts Meredith's time spent there. As recounted in Meredith's book Three Years in Mississippi, students on the floor right above Meredith's room tried to keep him awake all night by bouncing a basketball on the floor, he was constantly insulted with racial slurs whenever he left his room or the building, anonymous notes and letters were delivered to his mailbox on a daily basis, and unlike most first-year college students, he lived in a suite of several rooms. Two United States Marshals were with him 24 hours a day, with another contingent of marshals escorting him to class and elsewhere on campus.

Geography

Oxford is located at 34°21′35″N 89°31′34″W / 34.35972°N 89.52611°W / 34.35972; -89.52611 (34.359837, -89.526242).^[4]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.0 square miles (25.8 km²), of which, 10.0 square miles (25.8 km²) of it is land and 0.10% is water.

The land is hilly in places but is generally level. To the west is the Mississippi Delta. It is within one hundred miles of Memphis, Tennessee.

Oxford is located at the confluence of highways from eight directions: Mississippi highway 6 (now signed US-278) runs west to Batesville and east to Pontotoc; highway 7 runs north to Holly Springs and south to Water Valley. Highway 30 goes northeast to New Albany; highway 334 ("Old Highway 6") southeast to Toccopola; Taylor Road southwest to Taylor, and highway 314 ("Old Sardis Road") northwest, formerly to Sardis 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. Many of the north-south streets are numbered from west to east, beginning at the old railroad depot, with numbers from four to eighteen. The place of "Twelfth Street," however, is taken by North and South Lamar Boulevard (formerly North and South Streets). The east-west avenues are named for the U.S. presidents in chronological order from north to south, from Washington to Cleveland; here again, there are gaps: John Quincy Adams would be indistinguishable from John Adams; "Polk Avenue" is replaced by University Avenue, and "Arthur Avenue" is lacking.

Demographics

As of the census^[5] of 2000, there were 11,756 people, 5,327 households, and 2,109 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,179.1 people per square mile (455.3/km²). There were 6,137 housing units at an average density of 615.5/sq mi (237.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 75.01% White, 20.95% African American, 0.12% Native American, 2.68% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.36% from other races, and 0.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.04% of the population.

There were 5,327 households out of which 17.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.9% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 60.4% were non-families. 37.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.05 and the average family size was 2.78.

In the city the population was spread out with 14.9% under the age of 18, 31.6% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 13.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26 years. For every 100 females there were 100.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $20,526, and the median income for a family was $45,700. Males had a median income of $33,750 versus $22,284 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,672. About 11.6% of families and 31.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.7% of those under age 18 and 14.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The City of Oxford is served by the Oxford School District. It is the home of the University of Mississippi, known as "Ole Miss", one of the state's three major universities. Lafayette County is served by the Lafayette County School System.

Health care

• Baptist Memorial Hospital - North Mississippi

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 for scientific research. The plants are used for research purposes. A small amount are prescribed to patients in the U.S. who are allowed medicinal marijuana for medical purposes.

Notable Citizens

William Faulkner's Underwood Universal Portable typewriter in his office at Rowan Oak (see below), which is now maintained by the University of Mississippi in Oxford as a museum.

• William Faulkner adopted Oxford as his hometown after growing up there when his family moved to Oxford from nearby New Albany when he was three. Oxford is the model for the city "Jefferson" in his fiction, and Lafayette County, Mississippi, was the model for his fictional Yoknapatawpha County. His former home, Rowan Oak, now owned by the University of Mississippi and recently remodeled, is a favorite tourist attraction in Oxford. Several members of Faulkner's family still live in the Oxford and Lafayette County area.
• John Grisham also has a home in Oxford. He received a J.D. from the University of Mississippi in 1981 and practiced law in the Southaven, Mississippi, area for ten years before retiring to write full time. He and his family relocated to Oxford in the early 1990s. Mr. Grisham still maintains a home in Oxford but his primary residence is now in Charlottesville, Virginia.
• Barry Hannah, Curtis Wilkie, Jane Ann Mullen, Beth Ann Fennelly, Ann Fisher-Wirth, and Tom Franklin are among the many writers who live in Oxford. Deceased authors Stark Young, Larry Brown, and Willie Morris also called Oxford home. Morris was also editor of Harper's Magazine, and moved to Oxford as an adult after years away from Mississippi. Richard Ford lived in Oxford for an extended period.
• Oxford has been called the art center of the South. Famous artists include Glennray Tutor, who specializes in photorealism and has had his artwork exhibited internationally; Jere Allen, widely exhibited figurative painter; Paula Temple, an expressionistic painter with a surreal twist; portraitist Jason Bouldin, sculptor William Beckwith; sculptor Rod Moorhead, who created the statue of James Meredith for the Civil Rights Monument at the University of Mississippi, and the seventeen foot bronze musicians in front of the Ford Center for the Performing Arts also at the University; and nationally known primitive artist Theora Hamblett (1895-1977). New Orleans artist John McCrady (1911–1968) spent his childhood years in Oxford.
• Actress Joey Lauren Adams, who appeared in Mallrats and Chasing Amy, resides in Oxford.
• ABC News Correspondent, Sharyn Alfonsi who covered the wars in Iraq and Israel, attended school in Oxford. She was an Ole Miss Beauty and Faulkner scholar.
• Secretary of the Interior Jacob Thompson (1810-1885) owned a manor called "Home Place" in Oxford that was burned down in 1864 during the Civil War by Union troops. A historical marker stands on the spot 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. Lamar's home in Oxford has recently been restored (2008) as a museum.

Oxford has been the setting for numerous movies, including Intruder in the Dust (1949, based on the Faulkner novel), Barn Burning (1980, based on the Faulkner short story), Rush (1981 documentary), Heart of Dixie (1989), The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag (1992), Sorry, We're Open (2008 documentary), The Night of the Loup Garou (2009), and parts of The People vs. Larry Flynt (1997).

Attractions

Rowan Oak

• The town square, called "The Square", is the geographic and cultural center of the city. The Square is known for an abundance of locally owned restaurants and specialty boutiques, many of the former regionally known and award winning. It is also home to the historic Lafayette County courthouse, the Oxford City Hall, and professional offices. Some restaurants on the Square include Ajax Diner, The BottleTree Bakery, The Blind Pig Pub, Proud Larry's, Boure', The Rib Cage, Pearl Street Pasta, Waltz on the Square, Parrish Baker Pub, City Grocery, and Downtown Grill.
• 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. When the Great Depression hit Oxford and most of the banks in town closed, Neilson's acted as a surrogate bank for university employees, who needed to cash their checks to pay living expenses.
• Square Books, a local bookstore founded in 1979, is consistently ranked among the best independent bookstores in the country. The store's owner, Richard Howorth, is currently in his second term as mayor of Oxford. A sister store, Off Square Books, which is several doors down the street to the east, 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 state-wide on Mississippi Public Broadcasting. The show often draws comparisons to Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion 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 Flamingo is a notable building just off of the Oxford Square located on University Avenue. Its distinctive Miami-style architecture makes it one of Oxford's most visible landmarks. A photo of the Flamingo can be found at [1]

Cultural

• Oxford has had a thriving and diverse music scene for many years, often drawing comparisons to other college towns with active musical life, such as Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Austin, Texas or Athens, Georgia. Oxford's relatively close proximity to large music cities such as Memphis, New Orleans, and Nashville, make it a regular stop for most of the current musicians and bands who tour on a regular basis. Artists like Garrison Starr and bands such as The Hilltops, Blue Mountain, The Neckbones, The Cooters, Kudzu Kings, Beanland, and members of Widespread Panic have all called Oxford home. Oxford is also the home of the renegade blues label Fat Possum Records, who released records by blues legends R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, as well as The Black Keys. Johnny Marr, former guitarist for The Smiths and current member of Modest Mouse bought a home in Oxford but no longer lives in it. Former Derek and the Dominos member Bobby Whitlock lived in Oxford where he had a ranch and his own studio.
• Tune Music Magazine is based in Oxford.
• Musicians Modest Mouse, Gavin Degraw, Elvis Costello, The Hives, and Counting Crows have recorded albums at Sweet Tea Recording Studio in Oxford. Dennis Herring, the owner of Sweet Tea, has received Grammy awards for his work with artists such as blues great Buddy Guy and Jars Of Clay.
• Bob Dylan wrote a song called "Oxford Town," which was included on his album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. The song was about the violent events surrounding the admission of James Meredith into the University of Mississippi 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 is home to the second of only five Marimekko Concept Stores in the U.S.

2008 Presidential Debate

More than 3000 journalists came to Oxford on September 26, 2008 to cover the first presidential debate of 2008, which was held at the University of Mississippi.^[6]

Historical sites

• Ammadelle, an antebellum Italianate house located on North Lamar, is a National Historic Landmark and was designed by Calvert Vaux, the famed co-architect of Central Park in New York.
• College Hill Presbyterian Church
• Lyceum-The Circle Historic District
• Barnard Observatory

References

External links

• Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce
• City of Oxford Official Website
• Oxford Civic Chorus Web Site
• Oxford Tourism Council
• The University of Mississippi
• Yoknapatawpha Arts Council
• Oxford Conference Center
• www.OxfordWelcomesYou.com, A site about accessibility for every one.
• Oxford travel guide from Wikitravel

• Oxford, Mississippi is at coordinates 34°21′35″N 89°31′34″W / 34.359837°N 89.526242°W / 34.359837; -89.526242 (Oxford, Mississippi)Coordinates: 34°21′35″N 89°31′34″W / 34.359837°N 89.526242°W / 34.359837; -89.526242 (Oxford, Mississippi)

Area newspapers

• The Oxford Enterprise
• The Oxford Eagle
• The Local Voice, The Local Newspaper for the Community, by the Community
• The Daily Mississippian, the student newspaper of The University of Mississippi.

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