Colonial Hotel - Oxford Courthouse Square Historic District - Oxford, MS - NRHP Historic Districts - Contributing Buildings on Waymarking.com

County of building: Lafayette County
Location of building: 107 N. Lamar, St., Oxford

"Oxford Realty, Inc. (formerly the Colonial Hotel), 107 N. Lamar Blvd. Threestory five-by-eight-bay brick commercial building. Segmental-arch fenestration. Nineteenth-century commercial style, ca. 1890." ~ NRHP Nomination Form

"Architectural styles represented in the district reflect the widespread destruction which occurred on all sides of the square during the Civil War, and the subsequent rebuilding period during the 1870s and '80s. The square has substantially retained its early-twentieth-century physical appearance. Two-story brick and stuccoed-brick commercial structures of that period feature a conglomeration and dilution of picturesque Revival-style details such as segmental-arch fenestration, corbeled and denticulated roof cornices and parapets, blind panels, and an exceptional variety of cast-iron storefront columns. The continuing maintenance and preservation of shed-roof storefront porches along several businesses on the square, as well as the frame double gallery along the side (north) elevation of Sneed Ace Hardware (building no. 42), greatly enhances the architectural integrity of the district. Frame porches are a historic streetscape amenity adding decorative and textural interest to the square.

The one- and two-story commercial-building row along the east side of the square is punctuated by the multigabled Romanesque Revival city hall (the former federal building, no. 2). Facade lines on the south, east, and north sides of the square generally follow an even rhythm of storefront bays; building height is consistently two story with the exception of building nos. 3, 5-8, 17, 20-22, 41, 51, and 52, all of which are one story, and building no. 55, which is three stories. The two blocks west of the square contain mainly one-story brick commercial buildings as well as two churches (nos. 25, 47) and two theaters (nos. 23, 28). These commercial blocks possess an integral physical relationship with the square because of their ongoing history and use for commercial, religious, and entertainment activities by Oxfordians and the university community. The distinctly civic-commercial quality of the district is derived from both its density of development around the courthouse and the preponderance of brick as a building material. Of the sixty-one structures in the district, only three (nos. 2, 27, 49) are of frame construction. The district contains fifty-two commercial buildings, and two each of civic, religious, entertainment, and residential structures." ~ NRHP Nomination Form