Oxford, Mississippi

Oxford, Mississippi
City
Location of Oxford, Mississippi
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Lafayette
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	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	38655
Area code	662
FIPS code	28-54840
GNIS feature ID	0691644

A British double-decker bus and the Confederate battle jack (incorporated in the Mississippi state flag) make for an odd juxtaposition on the north side of the Lafayette County Courthouse in Oxford, Mississippi, during the 2007 Double Decker Festival.

Oxford is the county seatTemplate:GR of Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. The population is currently about 19,000, due to a recent annexation of five square miles of Lafayette County in all directions.[1] Oxford is the home of the University of Mississippi, founded in 1848, also known as "Ole Miss". Oxford is known by ESPN's Sportscenter as "the town that smells of bourbon and Chanel No.5".

Oxford has been named by USA Today as one of the top 6 college towns in the nation and 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.

Geography

Oxford is located at 34°21′35″N 89°31′34″W (34.359837, -89.526242).Template:GR

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 25.8 km² (10.0 mi²). 25.8 km² (10.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.10% is water.

The land is hilly in places but is generally level. To the southwest is the Mississippi Delta.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 11,756 people, 5,327 households, and 2,109 families residing in the city. The population density was 455.3/km² (1,179.1/mi²). There were 6,137 housing units at an average density of 237.7/km² (615.5/mi²). 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.

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 the only facility in the United States that is federally licensed to cultivate marijuana for scientific research. The plants grown at this facility are used for research purposes and a small amount are prescribed to the dozen or so patients in the U.S. who are allowed medicinal marijuana for medical purposes.

Other facts

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.

Rowan Oak

• William Faulkner adopted Oxford as his hometown after moving to Oxford at the age of three with his family from nearby New Albany. Oxford is the model for the city "Jefferson" in his fiction, and Lafayette County, Mississippi was used as 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 from practicing law. He and his family relocated to Oxford as his writing career took off in the early 1990s.
• 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, culminating in riots late on the evening of Sunday, September 30, 1962, in which two men, a French journalist sent to cover the events and a Lafayette County resident, were killed by stray bullets. Meredith's impending registration at the university, brought on by his win in a federal lawsuit for equal access to education in his home state, sparked widespread unrest and rioting. During the riot cars were burned, university property was damaged, and United States Marshalls ordered to protect Meredith's right to register were pelted with bricks, rocks, and fired upon with stray bullets as they established a line in front of The Lyceum, the main admissions and registration building on the campus. After a long night of fierce battle between National Guard troops, State Highway patrolmen, United States Marshalls, university students, and outside agitators, order was restored to the campus with the early morning arrival of the U. S. Army onto the campus and surrounding town. President John F. Kennedy mobilized the Army and ordered them onto the campus and surrounding community early on the evening of the riot, but poor communication and crossed orders resulted in a delay for 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. Dylan played a memorable concert at the Tad Smith Coliseum on the Ole Miss campus in November 1990, which included a performance of the song Oxford Town.
• Authors Barry Hannah, Curtis Wilkie, Jane Ann Mullen, and Tom Franklin are among the many authors who live in Oxford. Deceased authors Larry Brown and Willie Morris also called Oxford home. Richard Ford has lived in Oxford for an extended period also, but currently lives in Maine.
• Oxford has many times been called the art center of the south with famous artists calling it home such as Glennray Tutor, a world famous artist who specializes in photorealism and has had his artwork shown around the world as well as featured in art magazines and television shows such as Seinfeld; Jere Allen, widely regarded as one of the best portrait painters in the world; Paula Temple, an expressionistic painter with a surreal twist and Wings Cancer Foundation artist of the year who was also a guest on the Rosie O'Donnell show in 1999 and sculptor William Beckwith calling Oxford home. Deceased primitive artist Theora Hamblett lived in Oxford as well.
• Nationally recognized poets Beth Ann Fennelly, Ann Fisher-Wirth, Louis E. Bourgeois, and J. E. Pitts live in Oxford.
• Oxford is also home to VOX Journal, an independent literary journal that publishes one large issue each year in April. VOX was founded by Louis E. Bourgeois, Max Bishop Hipp, and J. E. Pitts and is edited by Louis E. Bourgeois and J. E. Pitts.
• Actress Joey Lauren Adams, who appeared in such films as Mallrats and Chasing Amy, currently resides in Oxford. Oxford has been host to many films, including Intruder in the Dust (1949, based on the Faulkner novel), Heart of Dixie (1989), The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag (1992), and parts of The People vs. Larry Flynt (1997). The picturesque town square has often appeared in many commercials for both national and regional products.
• The town square, called "The Square," is the geographic and cultural center of the city. Some restaurants on the square include The Blind Pig Pub,The Longshot, Proud Larry's, Jubilee, Ajax, Boure', The Rib Cage, Pearl Street Pasta, Parrish Baker Pub, City Grocery, and Downtown Grill. The Square is filled with many other restaurants, clothing stores, specialty stores, and professional offices.
• 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 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.
• Oxford has had a thriving and diverse music scene for many years, often drawing comparisons to other college towns with large musical scenes, such as Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 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.
• Honest 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 a Grammy award for his work with blues great Buddy Guy.
• Oxford has hosted the Oxford Film Festival for the last four years. This festival is quickly becoming a "must-attend" event for regional and national filmmakers, actors, and movie buffs.
• CBS News Correspondent, Sharyn Alfonsi who covered the war in Iraq and Israel, attended school in Oxford. She was an Ole Miss Beauty and Faulkner scholar.
• Interior Secretary Jacob Thompson owned a manor called "Home Place" in Oxford that was burned down during the Civil War by Union troops in 1864. A historical marker stands on the spot where it once stood. Many other houses in the general area and within the city limits date from before and just after The Civil War era.
• Amadelle, 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.

Area Churches

• Burns United Methodist Church
• Clear Creek Missionary Church
• Christ Presbyterian Church
• College Hill Presbyterian Church
• First Baptist Church
• First Presbyterian Church
• North Oxford Baptist Church
• Oxford Church of Christ
• Oxford-University United Methodist Church
• Peace Lutheran Church
• Second Baptist Church
• The Orchard Oxford
• St. John's Catholic Church
• St. Peter's Episcopal Church
• Pine Bluff Church of Christ
• "Mount Hope Missionsary Baptist Church Taylor Mississippi"

External links

• Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce
• City of Oxford Official Website
• Oxford Civic Chorus Oxford Civic Chorus Web Site
• Oxford Tourism Council
• The University of Mississippi
• Yoknapatawpha Arts Council
• Oxford Conference Center
• Template:Wikitravel

Area newspapers

• 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.
• Go Oxford, Community website covering Oxford Mississippi