Oxford, Mississippi University of Mississippi, a.k.a.
University of Mississippi, a.k.a.
Location of Oxford, Mississippi Location of Oxford, Mississippi A British double-decker tourist bus and the Mississippi state flag contrast beside the Lafayette County Courthouse in Oxford, Mississippi, amid the 2007 Double Decker Festival.
Oxford is a town/city in, and the governmental center of county of, Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States.
Founded in 1837, it was titled after the British college city of Oxford in hopes of having the state college located there, which it did successfully attract.
As of the 2010 US Census, the populace is 18,916; the Enumeration Bureau estimates the city's 2013 populace at 20,865. Oxford is the home of the University of Mississippi, established in 1848, also generally known as "Ole Miss".
Oxford City Schools are ranked as "Star" schools, the highest ranking available, and Lafayette County school systems are persistently ranked as "5-star" systems.
Oxford and Lafayette County were formed from lands ceded by the Chickasaw in the treaty of Pontotoc Creek in 1832.
The county was organized in 1836, and in 1837 three pioneers John Martin, John Chisom, and John Craig purchased territory from Hoka, a female Chickasaw landowner, as a site for the town. They titled it Oxford, intending to promote it as a center of learning in the Old Southwest.
In 1841, the Mississippi council chose Oxford as the site of the state university, which opened in 1848.
During this reconstructionmany African American freedmen moved from farms into town and established a neighborhood known as "Freedmen Town", where they assembled homes, businesses, churches and schools, and exercised all the rights of peoplehip. Even after Mississippi disfranchised most African Americans in the Constitution of 1890, they continued to build their lives in the face of discrimination.
During the Civil Rights Movement, Oxford drew nationwide attention in the Ole Miss brawl of 1962.
State officials, including Governor Ross Barnett, inhibited James Meredith, an African American, from enrolling at the University of Mississippi, even after the federal courts had ruled that he be admitted.
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. The town/city is positioned in the North Central Hills region of Mississippi.
The region is higher and greater in relief than areas to the west (such as the Mississippi Delta or loess bluffs along the Delta), but lower in altitude than areas in Northeast Mississippi.
Downtown Oxford sits on one of these ridges and the University of Mississippi sits on another one, while the chief commercial corridors on either side of the town/city sit in valleys.
Oxford is positioned at the confluence of highways from eight directions: Mississippi Highway 6 (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.
The City of Oxford is served by two enhance school districts, Oxford School District and Lafayette County School District, and three private schools, Oxford University School, Regents School and Magnolia Montessori.
Oxford is partially the home of the chief campus of the University of Mississippi, known as "Ole Miss" (much of the ground is in University, Mississippi, an unincorporated enclave surrounded by the City of Oxford), and of the Lafayette-Yalobusha Center of Northwest Mississippi Community College.
The North Mississippi Japanese Supplementary School, a Japanese weekend school, is directed in conjunction with the University of Mississippi, with classes held on campus. The Baptist Memorial Hospital - North Mississippi, positioned in Oxford provides elected health care services for Oxford and the encircling area, supported by a burgeoning 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 positioned in Oxford.
Oxford is home to the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi's School of Pharmacy.
The City of Oxford operates enhance transit under the name Oxford-University Transit (OUT), with bus routes throughout the town/city and University of Mississippi campus. Ole Miss students and faculty ride no-charge upon showing University identification.
Mississippi Central Railroad provides freight rail service to the Lafayette County Industrial Park in Oxford.
See also: List of citizens from Oxford, Mississippi 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 exhibition.
William Faulkner adopted Oxford as his hometown after burgeoning up there when his family moved to Oxford from close-by New Albany when he was three.
Oxford is the model for the town/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.
From the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981 and practiced law in the Mississippi suburbs of Memphis for ten years before retiring to write full-time.
Curtis Wilkie, Ace Atkins, Chris Offutt, Tom Franklin, Beth Ann Fennelly, Ann Fisher-Wirth, Neil White, Wright Thompson and New Yorker staff writer and author Paige Williams are among the many acclaimed writers who have lived in Oxford.
Senator and supreme court justice, resided in Oxford, where he served as professor of mathematics at the University of Mississippi, farmed, and practiced law.
Lamar's home in Oxford has recently been restored (2008) as a exhibition.
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who played college football at Ole Miss, lives in Oxford amid the offseason.
His father, former Ole Miss and New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning, owns a condominium in Oxford.
In addition to the historic Lafayette County Courthouse, the Square is known for an abundance of locally owned restaurants, specialty boutiques, and experienced offices, along with Oxford City Hall.
When the Great Depression hit Oxford and most of the banks in town closed, Neilson's acted as a surrogate bank, cashing paychecks for college employees and others.
The Lyric Theater, just off the courthouse square, is Oxford's biggest music venue, with a capacity near 1200.
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 Gertrude Castellow Ford Center for the Performing Arts on the University of Mississippi's ground hosts a broad range of affairs, such as symphony performances, operas, musicals, plays, comedy tours, chamber music, and guest lectures.
Oxford has had a grow and diverse music scene for many years, often drawing comparisons to other Southern college suburbs with active musical life, such as Charlottesville, Virginia; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Gainesville, Florida; Austin, Texas; or Athens, Georgia.
Oxford's mostly close adjacency to large music metros/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.
Johnny Marr, former guitarist for The Smiths and current member of Modest Mouse bought a home in Oxford but no longer lives in it.
The song was about the violent affairs encircling 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 ground in November 1990, which opened with a performance of the song Oxford Town.
Oxford has been the setting for various movies, including Intruder in the Dust (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 (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.
See also National Register of Historic Places listings in Lafayette County, Mississippi and the Lyceum-The Circle Historic District, University of Mississippi.
Barnard Observatory (Center for the Study of Southern Culture), University of Mississippi, 1859 The Lyceum, University of Mississippi, 1848, designed by William Nichols Memory House (John Faulkner House), 406 University Ave., ca.
Oxford City Hall (former Federal Courthouse), 1885 (Richardson Romanesque) University of Mississippi Power House, site of William Faulkner's composition of As I Lay Dying Ventress Hall, University of Mississippi, 1889 (Richardson Romanesque) Y Building (Croft Institute for International Studies), University of Mississippi, 1853 Oxford and Ole Miss.
An American Insurrection: James Meredith and the Battle of Oxford, Mississippi, 1962.
"2008 Presidential Debate | The University of Mississippi - Official Home Page".
Oxford, MS Household Income Statistics.
OGE-US Japan Partnership, University of Mississippi.
North Mississippi Japanese Supplementary School at The University of Mississippi.
Oxford Depot - History.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oxford, Mississippi.
City of Oxford Official Website The University of Mississippi Oxford - Mississippi.com - Hottest topics and highlights in Oxford, Mississippi The Daily Mississippian, the student journal of The University of Mississippi, established 1911 Municipalities and communities of Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States
Categories:
Cities in Mississippi - County seats in Mississippi - Cities in Lafayette County, Mississippi - University suburbs in the United States - Micropolitan areas of Mississippi - Populated places established in 1837 - 1837 establishments in Mississippi - Oxford, Mississippi
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