Oxford Sites

"James T. Canizaro (1904-1982)... in 1938 designed a small modernist gem in the WPA-sponsored Oxford City Hall (p.107)...a structure that pushed even more courageously toward the brave new world of international modernism" (Hines, 1996, p.108). "Above two round modernist columns supporting the covered first floor entrance porch, the defining motif of the building was a long, thin band of contiguous ribbon windows, curving smartly at the corner in a quintessentially modernist gesture. To the right and on the axis of this key design element was an asymmetrically placed clock of chic modernist design" (Hines, p. 108). The structure was demolished in 1976.

The original Romanesque/Queen Anne style post office and federal building was constructed 1883-1886. A rear wing was added in 1935 under the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury direction. At that time, the building was still a post office and federal building. The building is currently used as Oxford City Hall.

The B. and P.W. Club of Oxford, the National Youth Administration and local citizens funded the construction of a community house for the use of Lafayette County. Home Demonstration clubs solicited funds from county communities to assist. The house was proposed to be located on North Lamar street, one block north of the courthouse. W. P. 5160 #896 for Oxford Community House, Lafayette County was constructed of 8 inch stone veneer laid random ashlar. Stone was quarried by NYA and the cypress shingles were cut at the Longview NYA sawmill. It contained a woodwork shop in the basement and was...

PWA Docket No. Miss. 1245-F approved construction of a school building in the city of Oxford to house Oxford's "Negro Elementary and High School." The building is no longer extant.

PWA Docket Mississippi # 1219 DS approved additions and alterations to the Oxford Grammar/Elementary School. The school has since been demolished.

The Oxford Municipal Airport was constructed in the 1930s, most likely in 1937 which is the first time it appeared in the Airport Directory, which also indicated construction was under way on an additional runway. It is unclear from available records if only the original building/hangar was constructed, or if the airfield was part of the construction. The airfield was listed in the 1945 AAF Airfield Directory, but closed sometime between 1965-1981 for unknown reasons. The 1967 Minute Book #23, City of Oxford, indicates the city owned "the old airport property on Murray Creek" (p. 195), so it most likely...

T. M. Strider and Company was in charge of construction for the four-lane steel-reinforced concrete bridge replacement for the old two-lane wooden bridge across the Hilgard Cut, connecting the University with Oxford. The original cut was hand dug by enslaved Africans in 1857 in order to enable the Illinois Central Railroad to provide service to Oxford-University, and was the deepest cut in the ICRR system. The rails were laid along the cut, which is now the Gertrude Ford Boulevard. University Avenue was scheduled for closure for six months in order to construct the new bridge with an estimated cost of...