401 Market St.
P.O. Box 380
Oxford, PA 19363
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The Oxford Town Clock, which sits proudly on the Peoples Bank of Oxford on South Third Street was restored in May of 2001.
The clock was dedicated to the spirit of citizen volunteer cooperation and the cause of local historic preservation. |
The Borough of Oxford, conveniently located in Southern Chester County started as an intersection of several trails. There were trails from the Delaware to the Susquehanna, from the lower Delaware to the Upper Octorara. One of those trails was the Nanticoke Trail which, Indians followed from the Poconos to the Northeast. It was a good camping area with several springs, where the Indians could fish and gather shellfish in the warm season. Early settlers followed this road calling it Limestone Road as they carried limestone from the early quarries to spread on their fields. The portion of Limestone Road that came through the center of Oxford became Third Street.
Around 1754, when there were a few farms in the area, a blacksmith, and charcoal makers in the abundant woods, an inn was built at the site of the Oxford Hotel and a sessions house and grave yard established on the site of the Green by the Presbyterian Church. The area became known as Hood's Crossing, after the name of the inn, Hood's Tavern.
In the 1700's, after changes in the extent, area and names of the developing townships the area became known as Oxford Crossing, or Oxford Village.
In 1805, an Oxford post office was established. In 1833, Oxford was elevated to a borough. With additional incorporation legislation in 1838, a borough council and officers were elected, and official records of the town began.
Oxford's greatest growth, building, and expansion era came after the Civil War, with early industrial and railroad development. It was then, in the "Gaslight Era" of 1870 to 1900 that many of our sturdy Victorian houses were built and the town assumed the basic appearance seen today.
