Oxford, Mississippi was incorporated in May of 1837 and was built on land that had once belonged to the Chickasaw Indian Nation. The town was established on fifty acres, which had been conveyed to the county by three men, John Chisholm, John J. Craig, and John D. Martins. The men had purchased the land from two Chickasaw Indians, HoKa and E Ah Nah Yea.

Lafayette County was one of 13 counties that had been created in February of 1836 by the state legislature. Most of the counties were given Chickasaw names, but Lafayette was named for the Marquis de Lafayette, the young French aristocrat who fought alongside the Americans during the Revolutionary War.

The Mississippi Legislature voted in 1841 to make Oxford the home of the state’s first University, the University of Mississippi. Oxford resident, T.D. Isom had recommended naming the City after Oxford, England in hopes that this would one day become a University town.

The University of Mississippi Opened it’s doors in 1848 to 80 students and has since become a landmark of Oxford and one of the nation’s finest public Universities.

Volunteers serve as Oxford Ambassadors for special events as needed.

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