Editing Oxford, North Carolina (section)

==History==
The town's history dates to 1761, when local legislator Samuel Benton built a plantation home and called it "Oxford." The legislature ordered the area around his plantation to be the seat of Granville County. The town was not incorporated until 1816.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.oxfordnc.org/index.asp?SEC=5CD33DD7-5146-42AB-8E3C-54F7DA12AF37&Type=B_BASIC| title=Granville County History: Oxford in Context| publisher=City of Oxford| access-date=January 6, 2017}}</ref>

The first [[Masonic]] [[orphanage]] for children in the United States was built in Oxford. It was originally established as St. John's College in 1858. The college ceased operations shortly after opening, however. In 1872 the community decided that the property should be repurposed to educate disadvantaged populations. In December 1873 the first residents were admitted to the Oxford Orphans Asylum, which is today known as the "Masonic Home for Children at Oxford."<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.mhc-oxford.org| title=The Masonic Home for Children at Oxford| publisher=Masonic Home for Children at Oxford| access-date=January 6, 2017}}</ref>

In 1851 James H. Horner established [[Horner Military School]],<ref name="Horner Military School - NC State Archives">{{cite web |title=Horner Military School, Oxford, N.C. |url=https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p249901coll37/id/21297 |website=North Carolina Digital Collections |publisher=State Archives of North Carolina |access-date=9 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref> which enrolled many young men from [[New York (state)|New York]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[Virginia]], [[South Carolina]] and other states. Many of the students went on to become leaders in the United States government, such as [[James Crawford Biggs]], [[Solicitor General of the United States|Solicitor General]] under President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the inception of the [[New Deal]]. After the barracks were destroyed by a fire in 1913, the school relocated to [[Charlotte, North Carolina]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Horner School|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of North Carolina |year=2006 |last=Anderson |first=Jean B. |editor-last=Powell |editor-first=William S. |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |location=Chapel Hill |id= |url= |access-date= }}</ref>

The Oxford Female College was established in 1850 by North Carolina [[Baptists]]. After suffering financial difficulties, the college was sold and became a private educational institution renamed "Oxford Female Seminary." In 1880 F. P. Hobgood took over leadership of the school, and it gained popularity under his leadership. The school closed in 1925, following Hobgood's death the previous year.<ref name="Oxford College | NCpedia">{{cite web |title=Oxford College |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/oxford-college |website=www.ncpedia.org}}</ref>

[[File:Oxford, North Carolina in 1925.jpg|thumb|left|Oxford c. 1925]]
In 1883 the state legislature established the [[Central Children's Home of North Carolina|Colored Orphan Asylum]] in Oxford. [[Henry Plummer Cheatham]], a former U.S. congressman (1889-1893), was appointed as superintendent in the early 1900s and led the institution for 28 years.

In 1970, [[Henry Marrow]] was shot and killed in Oxford. The killing resulted in a racial protest. The events were chronicled by [[Timothy Tyson]] in the book ''[[Blood Done Sign My Name]]'' (2004) and a 2010 movie [[Blood Done Sign My Name (film)|with the same name]].

A [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] statue was erected in 1909 by the Granville Grays [[United Daughters of the Confederacy]] at a cost of $3000.00 and valued in 2009 at $1,327,791.62. The monument was erected in the courthouse square facing away from the courthouse. The base, constructed of granite from [[Warren County, North Carolina|Warren County]], is {{convert|27|ft}} tall, and the bronze statue is {{convert|7|ft}} tall. The monument, a memorial to the Confederate veterans of Granville County that served in the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] in the Granville Grays Company D, 12th Regiment, was dedicated October 30, 1909. The statue had not arrived in time but the ceremony continued and the statue was placed at a later date.<ref name="Statue">{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/stream/cornerstoneofcon00unit#page/4/mode/2up | title=Confederate statue | publisher=Orphanage Press, Oxford, NC | date=1909 | access-date=August 17, 2014 | author=Conn, Edward L | pages=5}}</ref>

Following the 1970 Oxford protests, the city moved the monument from the courthouse square to a site in front of the Richard H. Thornton Library. Since 2009, some activists had suggested moving it to an historic graveyard located down the street.<ref name="Debate over Oxford's Confederate Monument goes on">{{cite web | url=http://www.southernheritage411.com/newsarticle2.php?rw=1297 | title=Oxford NC Confederate Monument Under Attack | publisher=Southern Heritage 411 | date=July 9, 2009 | access-date=August 17, 2014 | author=West, William F.}}</ref> In June 2020 the statue was removed and is currently in storage.<ref name="Granville County Confederate Monument, Oxford">{{cite web |title=Granville County Confederate Monument, Oxford |url=https://docsouth.unc.edu/commland/monument/17/#:~:text=On%20June%2022%2C%202020%2C%20the,to%20a%20county%20press%20release. |website=docsouth.unc.edu |publisher=UNC University Library |access-date=9 June 2022 |language=en |date=19 March 2010}}</ref>

The [[Central Orphanage]], [[Granville County Courthouse]], [[Joseph B. Littlejohn House]], [[Locust Lawn (Oxford, North Carolina)|Locust Lawn]], [[Oxford Historic District (Oxford, North Carolina)|Oxford Historic District]], [[Paschall-Daniel House]], [[Archibald Taylor Plantation House]], and [[Thorndale (Oxford, North Carolina)|Thorndale]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>