First incorporated as a town, February 7, 1852, in Benton County, Oxford's second incorporation was approved February 21, 1860 in Calhoun County. Long before this territory was "settled", it was inhabited by Creek Indians. In the time that the Creek Indians were leaving, Sylvanus Simmons and Dudley Snow came and settled north and south of present-day Choccolocco Street. The first post office, located in the home of Dudley Snow, served the town known as "Lick Skillet." Oxford's valuable contribution to the Confederacy in the War Between the States was a cavalry company, the Dudley Snow Rangers, organized here in 1862 and mustered into service by Col. John Tyler Morgan. The Alabama-Tennessee River Railroad was the first to lay its tracks in Oxford sometime between 1859 and 1862. The Oxford Iron Company, organized November 1862, mined iron ore and manufactured pig iron. Its furnace was burned by Federal troops April 23, 1865. Through the years, Oxford has grown, creating memories for its citizens, adopting the slogan "Crossroads of the Future."
Erected by the Alabama Tourism Department and the City of Oxford
Oxford Homecoming Week, May 31-June 5, 2010
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