The story
Read it all →How Oxford came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Oxford.
Oxford was platted in 1868. It is named from Oxford Township, which takes its name from Oxford, New York.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Oxford
Oxford’s post office opened in 1855, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 16 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1880.
1855first post office
1on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
3famous people
Quick answers
How Oxford began
When was Oxford founded?
1855
The Oxford post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Nemora (1865), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 560 in 18802020 census: 722171 years
Founding year: the first Oxford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Oxford’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Oxford’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oxford’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about Oxford in 1883
Passages that mention Oxford, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Johnson County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, and its townships, cities and villages from 1836 to 1882. Together with biographical sketches ..1883 · page 741Read the page →
Read the text
Before the town of Oxford was laid out, there were a few shanties erected about the tank, and occupied by the section men, and the old Catholic Church was built a year or two before that event, which occurred in 1868, the original site being upon the southwest quarter of section 21, being sixty-nine miles from Davenport, 252 from Chicago, and 105 from Des Moines, by railroad. Oxford post-office was then kept by Mr.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Johnson County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, and its townships, cities and villages from 1836 to 1882. Together with biographical sketches ..1883 · page 597Read the page →
Read the text
In 1872, Wilson and Estabrook began to deal in coal, which began at that time to be used, and has now nearly superseded wood as an article of fuel in the town of Oxford. A list of Oxford's business houses in 1881: General stores, 5; grocery, 1; hardware 3; drugs and medicines, 2; millinery and notions, 3; jewelry and music, 1; books and stationery, 1; furniture, 1; undertakers, 2; flower and feed, 1; meat market, 1; bakery and confectionery,!; livery stables, 2; lumber yard, 1; coal yard, 1 ; brick yard, 1; barber shop, 1; picture gallery, 1; flour mill, 1; hotels, 3: news-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Oxford, 1855 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1855Post officeThe Oxford post office opens
- 1865Post officeThe Nemora post office opens
- 1869Post officeThe Nemora post office closes
- 1882
Born hereClara Stover is born here - 1891
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1925Born hereJames Hoyt is born here
- 1963Born hereKevin Kinney is born here
- 1980
In the archiveSheep farm and barn west of Oxford, Iowa
By decade
Oxford, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1980s1 item
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
2009
2009
2009
2009
2004On the map
Oxford on the map, 1891 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oxford. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1891Oxford sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Oxford.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewSheep farm and barn west of Oxford, Iowa, 1980
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Oxford’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 listing protects 16 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
16
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Oxford Commercial Historic District
Districts
Architectural styles listings
Italianate1
Romanesque1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Oxford, census by census
Between 515 and 807 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oxford’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →3 famous people were born in Oxford
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Oxford’s post office has been open since 1855. Another post office, Nemora, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Oxford
Nemora
18501940today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Oxford’s history
What year was Oxford founded?
The Oxford post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Oxford?
One place: the Oxford Commercial Historic District (listed 1997).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.