BlockBefore
Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Oxford, Massachusetts

43 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Oxford town. It lies in ZIP code area 01540. It stands on Camp Hill. The Survey maps it on the Oxford quadrangle. 5,928 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 505 feet above sea level.

Oxford within Worcester County

Population over time

2 figures

Oxford fell from 6,103 to 5,928 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20106,103
20205,928-175 (-3%)

Then and now

1889 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 100 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Oxford, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Oxford, surveyed 1889

Topographic sheets covering this place

43 sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires nearby

57 since 2007

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 57 fires within 5 miles of Oxford between 2007 and 2020, burning about 28 acres in total. None started naturally. 4 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning21
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Recreation and ceremony9
Railroad operations and maintenance6
Arson/incendiarism4
Equipment and vehicle use3
Smoking3
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
25 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
15 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
15 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
4 August 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
22 August 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
9 July 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
25 July 2007Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachussetts State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
24 July 2016Debris and open burning1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Worcester County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 1,180 shown

Museums hold 1,180 specimens collected within 10 miles of Oxford between 1839 and 1974: 676 Plantae, 314 Animalia, 161 Fungi, 13 Unrecorded, 12 Protozoa, 4 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. A. Eaton, A. B. Seymour, A. B. Seymour et al. and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Chilonectria coryli (Fuckel) Ellis & Everh.Chilonectria coryli (Fuckel) Ellis & Everh.1896Henderson
Specimen of Coryneum pulvinatum KunzeCoryneum pulvinatum Kunze1897D. Murray
A photograph of the species Ochrolechia tartarea, not of this specimenOchrolechia tartarea (L.) A.Massal.1839E. Tuckerman
A photograph of the species Carex laxiflora, not of this specimenCarex laxiflora Lam.1840Thomas NuttallCambridge.
A photograph of the species Carex vestita, not of this specimenCarex vestita Willd.1840Thomas NuttallCambridge.
A photograph of the species Mycobilimbia hypnorum, not of this specimenMycobilimbia hypnorum (Lib.) Kalb & Hafellner1848E. Tuckerman
A photograph of the species Cladonia cornucopioides, not of this specimenCladonia cornucopioides F.Wilson1850J. L. RussellLeicester
A photograph of the species Carex aperta, not of this specimenCarex aperta Boott1853W. BoottMassachusetts
A photograph of the species Cladrastis tinctoria, not of this specimenCladrastis tinctoria Raf.1856AnonymousCambridge.
Opegrapha varia Pers.1856E. Tuckerman
A photograph of the species Hyla versicolor, not of this specimenHyla versicolor LeConte, 18251857Weinland, David Friedrich
Elymus repens (L.) Gould1892Arthur B. SeymourCambridge.

All 1,180 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

10 of 17 shown

The federal mineral resources record lists 17 workings within 5 miles of Oxford: 14 past producers, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Charlton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Crossover PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Donald P Graves Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Highway PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Lind PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Old Webster Road PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Oxford PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Oxford Quarry Plant #8Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Ricciardi Asphalt CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Robbins Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Worcester County

Storms nearby

20 since 1998

The National Weather Service names Oxford in 20 storm reports between 1998 and 2023: 8 thunderstorm wind, 8 flood, 3 hail, 1 funnel cloud. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2002Thunderstorm WindOxford$20,000Microburst
August 2018FloodOxford$15,000At 9:29 AM EST, several cars were reported trapped in flood waters on Sutton Avenue in Oxford.
August 2016FloodOxford$15,000Several cars were stuck in flood waters on Sutton Avenue near the McDonald's and Cahill Tire.
August 2016Thunderstorm WindOxford$15,000Trees and wires were downed on Worcester Road and Old Southbridge Road by thunderstorm winds.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindOxford$10,000Six inch diameter branches and several large trees were downed by thunderstorm winds in the Hodgesville Dam area of Oxford. Also, two utility poles were damaged. In East Charlton, trees were downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindOxford$5,000no account filed
October 2020Thunderstorm WindOxford$4,000In Oxford, multiple trees and wires were down across town.
July 2006FloodOxford$2,000no account filed
July 2023Thunderstorm WindOxford$1,500In Oxford, a tree fell on a house on Main St.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindOxford$600In Oxford, a power pole was down and leaning on wire on Oak Street.
August 2023FloodOxford-In Oxford, there was significant street flooding at Orchard Hill Rd and Sutton Ave.
September 2022FloodOxford-In Oxford, street flooding was reported on an unspecified road.
July 2019FloodOxford-Flooding was reported on Sutton Ave in Oxford.
August 2019FloodOxford-In Oxford, the Sutton Avenue Exit (4B) off of I-395 was flooded with one foot of water and impassable.
September 2018FloodWest Oxford-At 12:51 AM, State Route 12 (Main Street) in Oxford was flooded and impassable near the Rite Aid pharmacy.
July 2012HailOxford-Pea to nickel size hail fell on the Oxford/Webster line.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindOxford-Numerous trees and wires down.
July 2008HailOxford-no account filed
July 2001HailOxford-no account filed
May 1998Funnel CloudOxford-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Worcester County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Hodges Village0.9 miles42
West Oxford1.6 miles42
Orchard Hills Estates1.6 miles43
Buffumville1.8 miles42
Community Park (historical)2.3 miles42
North Oxford2.3 miles44
Grand View Estates2.5 miles42
Camp Barton3.1 miles42

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on OxfordAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7115221The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 610666. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.