A history of Oxford,
since 1850
Postcards, papers and photographs of Oxford from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Founded in the early 1850s, Oxford was the first city in Calhoun County to be incorporated, in 1852. The name "Oxford" was due to the presence of a narrow crossing of Chocolocco Creek that allowed farmers to ford cattle from one side of the creek to the other. Since 1970, Oxford has annexed large amounts of land to the south and west, including the communities of Coldwater and Bynum. In 1970, it was all in Calhoun County, but today it includes areas in Talladega County and Cleburne County.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Oxford’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewBOILING SPRINGS SOUTH OF HOUSE - …, 1933: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Oxford
See all 12 →
Oxford, decade by decade
CommonsBOILING SPRINGS SOUTH OF HOUSE - Freeman-Caver-Christian Ho…1933
CommonsCLOSE-UP OF FRONT PORCH, EAST - Freeman-Caver-Christian Hou…1933
CommonsCLOSE-UP OF MANTEL DETAIL IN LIVING ROOM (E. room) - Border…1933
CommonsFRONT AND SIDE VIEW N.E. - Freeman-Caver-Christian House, U…1933
CommonsFRONT AND SIDE VIEW OF OLD SLAVE KITCHEN, N.W. - Borders-Bl…19331990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as BOILING SPRINGS SOUTH OF HOUSE - Freeman-Caver-Christian House, Upper Friendship Road, Oxford, Calhoun County, AL HABS … (1933) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Historic places
National Register · via Wikidata
From Wikimedia Commons (5) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.