The Oxford Historical Society

No one who has ever lived in this blessed town can speak of it without emotion."
Goodrich C. White
President, Emory University

Oxford, Georgia:  A Place Set Apart

The City of Oxford’s beginning was remarkable.  It was an early example of city planning; town and college fully laid out together on an engineer’s drawing board with the streets shooting out from Emory College like beams of light from the sun.
  The town’s planners were men with noble ideas as to how life should be lived on this earth, and they went about planning “a place set apart, pervaded by an atmosphere of culture and science,” where no evil thing should enter.  “We will entertain no public sins which could be guarded against,” they wrote in the town charter.  In furtherance of these goals, alcohol, gambling, and dancing were not allowed in the town limits.  They intended to create a village that was as close to paradise on earth as possible.  It was to be not only free of sin, but full of love for God, mankind, nature, and learning.  It was to be peaceful, safe, and beautiful.  The pursuit of knowledge was one of their highest values.  They even encouraged the education of women, which was not the norm in the 19th century.   ​
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In 1836, the Georgia Conference of The Methodist Episcopal Church incorporated a college to be named Emory College after Methodist Bishop John Emory.  The college was to be built on land north of the City of Covington.  In conjunction with the college, a village was to be built that would be called Oxford after the University attended by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. ​
 The trustees of Emory College purchased the land from Cary Wood of Covington, all that part of Oxford that lies west of Oxford’s main street.  From the campus to the north end of town was solid woods, with the exception of two small clearings.
Edward Lloyd Thomas, a well-known surveyor, was hired to survey the town. The streets were to radiate out from the college and were to be named after important figures in the Methodist Church, with the main street named Wesley Street after John Wesley.  The town of Oxford was surveyed and plotted in 1837 and the Georgia State Legislature granted a charter for its incorporation on December 23, 1839.
Since the Methodist Episcopal Church founded the college and town, church services were held from the very beginning.  In 1841, the Oxford Methodist Episcopal Church building (now known as Old Church) was built.  
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Old Church
Later, a small church was placed in what is now the southeast corner of the Oxford Historical Cemetery so that the slaves in the community could hold church services there. Sadly, it is no longer there.  After emancipation, African American citizens of Oxford founded Mt. Zion Baptist Church and Rust Chapel Methodist Church.  ​
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Mt. Zion Babtist Church
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Rust Chapel
In 1910, the Young John Allen Memorial Methodist Church was built.
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Allen Memorial Methodist Church
Although it was the official doctrine of the Methodist church that slavery was a “moral evil,” most of the early leaders in both the college and the town were slave holders.  This issue would ultimately cause the church to split into two factions.  After the Civil War, and up until the mid-twentieth century, racial segregation was prevalent in all aspects of community life in the southern United States, including Oxford. ​
Prior to the emancipation of the slaves, state law prohibited the education of African Americans.  After emancipation, segregation would still be the law of the land for another hundred years.  African American children were educated is schools established in conjunction with the African American churches.  ​
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Rust Chapel School
It wasn’t until 1921 that a school for African American children, called the Oxford (Rosenwald) School was built. ​
 In fact, in 1964, ten years after the historic Brown v. the Board of Education ruling by the United States Supreme Court, the vast majority of school districts in Georgia were still segregated.  It wasn’t until 1969 that Palmer-Stone Elementary School, along with all other elementary schools in Newton County, was integrated at all grade levels.
The only commercial activities in the town were those necessary to support the residents and college, such as a post office, general stores, a blacksmith, and a barbershop.
For much of the history of Oxford, Emory students were an integral part of town life.  The students who didn’t live with their own families in town boarded in the homes of the city’s residents or in “helping halls,” houses in town that were owned by the college that were co-oped by students.  After the advent of dorms, the students became more separate from town life.  Later, when women were admitted to the college and as their numbers increased, the male students tended not to mix as much with local girls.  But still, the relationship between college and town remained strong through the years. ​
In 1919, Emory College moved to Atlanta to become part of Emory University. The Oxford campus stayed within the Emory University system but was refashioned into “Emory Academy,” a college preparatory school educating high school students.  In 1929, a junior college division of Emory was established, called Emory-at-Oxford.  Then, in 1964, Emory-at-Oxford became Oxford College of Emory University.
Over the years, the town has changed and developed.  Electric lines were brought in and a water system was established.  Indoor plumbing became the norm.  Kitchens were moved from separate buildings to rooms within the house. With the advent of the car, it was no longer necessary to shop or work in or near Oxford, and when large chain stores and shopping centers came to nearby cities, Oxford’s stores began to close -- but the citizens of Oxford were determined that their beloved town continue to thrive.  And it did

Initially the town was governed by seven commissioners; the chairman of the group had the title of “Intendant.”  A new charter was granted for the town of Oxford on September 14, 1914 that provided for a “chairman of the board” to be selected from the seven commissioners.  It also included a resolution to change the name of Benson Street to Emory Street.  Another charter, dated October 27, 1953 provided for the election of Oxford’s first mayor by the voters of the town of Oxford.  The charter has been changed at least once since then and outdated ordinances have been replaced.  The town is currently governed by 6 councilpersons and a mayor.  In addition, there is a Planning Commission and a Trees, Parks, and Recreation Board. 

For a time, the needs of the town were tended to by a city clerk, a town marshal, and a “superintendent of public works.”  Now Oxford has 13 employees, which include a full-time city manager, city clerk, superintendent of public works, a chief of police, and four police officers.  Oxford has a new city hall and a new state-of-the-art maintenance facility.  The 1889 annual budget for the city was $649.  Today, the city operates on an annual budget of approximately $4,200,000.

In many ways, life in Oxford remains as peaceful and idyllic as the founders intended, as warm and welcoming as many who grew up here remember.  Many fifth and sixth generation families – both black and white -- still make Oxford their home and work together to make their community “a place set apart.”
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Lisa Dorward
Former President
Oxford Historical Society
We strive to make this site not only a place to share information and stories about life in Oxford and its history, but also make it a useful tool for those embarking on the sometimes arduous journey of genealogical research.  With that in mind, many pages on this website contain numerous links within the text to sites that might be of historical interest to the researcher.   

For help in finding government records on individuals the following can be quite useful:

The Ultimate Guide to Census Records

The Ultimate Guide to WWII Records

The Ultimate Guide to Death Records