County of district: Lafayette
Location of district: S. Lamar Blvd., Jackson and Van Buren Aves. , Oxford
Year Listed: 1980
"Courthouse Square Historic District
Late 19th- and 20th-century revival, late Victorian, and Art Deco architectural styles
Buildings range from ca. 1866 to 1900"
~ Oxford-Lafayette County Economic Development
"The Oxford Courthouse Square Historic District is representative of the 150-year history
of commerce, local government, and religious institutions in the city of Oxford, Mississippi
Rebuilt after its destruction during the Civil War, the courthouse and its square were later
immortalized by the pen and presence of the acclaimed writer William Faulkner, whose legendary
Yoknapatawpha County and town of Jefferson were fictive prototypes for the author's
native Lafayette County and city of Oxford. A cohesive and architecturally significant
ensemble of mid- to late-nineteenth-century buildings, the district also typifies early nineteenth-century
principles of town planning as practiced widely in Mississippi.
"Oxford was incorporated in 1837, in which year the square was laid out and a temporary
frame courthouse was constructed at its center. Replaced by a more-substantial masonry
structure in 1840, the courthouse was again rebuilt in 1871, following its incineration
by Union troops in 1864 under Gen. A. J. Smith. The chronology of courthouse construction
in Oxford interestingly parallels the history of the Marshall County Courthouse in neighboring
Holly Springs. The buildings surrounding the courthouse in Oxford, however, suffered
almost total destruction during its Civil War occupation, while damage to the courthouse
square in Holly Springs was less extensive. The viability of the courthouse as the seat
of government and commerce in Lafayette County was confirmed by the rebuilding of the
square in the years following the war. Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner
(1897-1962), who lived in Oxford at Rowan Oak during most of his life, frequented the
square. An alley between building nos. 18 and 19 was recently named in his honor. In
his description of the significance of the square in Requiem for a Nun, Faulkner wrote:
But above all, the courthouse: the center, the focus, the hub;
sitting looming in the center of the county's
circumference like a
single cloud . . . musing, brooding, symbolic and ponderable, tall
as a cloud, solid as a
rock, dominating all: protector of the weak,
judiciate and curb of the passions and lusts, repository and guardian
of the aspirations and hopes ....
"Commercial and religious institutions in the courthouse square district represent a proud
historical tradition. Neilson's Department Store (no. 5), founded 1839, is reputedly the
oldest family-run business in continuous operation in Mississippi. The Freeland and
Gafford law office (no. 50), a well-proportioned High Victorian Gothic structure, was
built as a law office by U.S. Senator William V. Sullivan, with later additions by
attorney James Stone, friend and advisor of William Faulkner. The Lyric Theater (no. 23)
was the scene in 1949 of the opening of the movie Intruder in the Dust, based upon the
novel by William Faulkner. MGM studios brought streetlights and beacons to Oxford to
light the square for the event. The First Presbyterian Church (no. 25), organized 1837,
is the oldest congregation in Oxford." ~ NRHP Nomination Form