Its first burgess (now called the mayor) was Thomas Alexander, who operated a general store thought to be the oldest building in Oxford.

Reverend John Miller Dickey and his wife Sarah Emlen Cresson founded Ashmun Institute in 1854, and which later became Lincoln University.

The family played a major role in re-routing the new Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad (P&BC) through Oxford.

It struggled through three bankruptcies and reorganized as the Lancaster, Oxford and Southern Railway, finally closing permanently in 1918.

[6] In the late 20th century, transportation changes resulted in Oxford being located off the main roads.

A bypass was constructed for U.S. Route 1 in the late 1960s,[7] but the major change was the 1963 opening of Interstate 95, which shifted the bulk of the Philadelphia-Baltimore traffic away from Oxford.

[9] According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.97 square miles (5.1 km2), all land.

The Oxford Presbyterian Church, one of the oldest buildings in town, was destroyed by fire in 1989 after the steeple (which it was known for and can be seen for miles) was struck by lightning.

Penn's Grove Middle was the original location of the High School, but became Penn's Grove after the new High School building was completed in November 2005, (the new place is located down Waterway Road).

Sacred Heart School is also located in Oxford, which was built in 2002, and is run by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Oxford is a part of the American Division in the Ches-Mont League for high school sports.

Sports included are football, basketball, baseball, soccer, field hockey, swimming, lacrosse, wrestling, tennis, and golf.

Oxford is the closest town to Lincoln University, a historically black college that was founded in 1854.