CHESTER –The “Other” Amish County

By Clinton Martin

What do the Amish and the oldest English-speaking university in the world have in common? Not much more than a name, really. The name of Oxford either conjures up thoughts of ancient academia, or of a bustling small town on Amish Country’s (the “Lancaster Settlement”) eastern edge, depending on where you live.

Oxford Pennsylvania is located halfway between Philadelphia and Baltimore, in Chester County PA. This made it a stopover on a naturally important route. The first recordings of a tiny village are from 1754, though it was not much more than an old dusty inn (Hood’s Tavern) at that time. The name “Oxford” was officially adopted as the town’s name in 1833 (yes, as a nod of honor to Oxford England.)

In the age of trains and horse-drawn wagons, the town flourished and grew steadily in economic might and political importance. Once the automobile took over, the town’s fortunes soured. By the 1970’s, the town’s storefronts were largely empty. This was not an uncommon fate to small towns across America, and as many other locales did, Oxford created a downtown association, and a chamber of commerce to seek a renaissance of the community.

Today, the town is once again a vibrant small-town area, with shops and eateries, and perhaps most popularly, a year-round farm market. The Oxford Farm Market is open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Stand holders offer up a variety of meats, cheeses, vegetables, flowers, crafts, and even larger items such as furniture and other locally made merchandise. Many of the local entrepreneurs displaying wares at this market are Amish, and thus many locals call it the Amish Market.

While Oxford of course changed with the times when the automobile became the mainstream manner of transportation in America, horsedrawn carriages never did completely disappear in town. This is due to the large Amish population in the surrounding countryside of the Oxford area. Out of 84 farms with Oxford mailing addresses, 74 of them are Amish. These Amish are aligned with the Lancaster County “settlement” so the carriages are of the same style, the clothing of the same design, and the doctrinal elements aligning as well.

The downtown association runs events throughout the year, but the biggest and most popular is the car show. The event draws over 3,000 people to downtown, with over 200 cars from the 1930’s, 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s shown, right along main street. In 2022, top honors went to a 1965 Chevrolet Corevette (1st Place), a 1960 Chrysler Imperial (2nd place), and a 1936 Chevrolet 3-Window Coupe (3rd place.) To get more information regarding the annual event, visit www. downtownoxfordpa.org or call 610998-9494.