Town of Oxford, Georgia Historic Shrine of the United Methodist Church (side 1)
In 1836 the Georgia Methodist Conference founded Emory College, named in honor of Bishop John Emory who had died the year before. Early in 1837, 1452 acres of land were purchased with 330 acres being set aside for the college town which was the first collegiate community of its kind in American Methodism.
The town, named Oxford in honor of the Wesleys´ university, was designed by Edward Lloyd Thomas, a Methodist minister and surveyor. The original streets were all named for notable Methodists. More than 20 nineteenth century buildings and sites related to Methodism are still standing and may be seen on a walking tour. The oldest house on Oxford, the Alexander Means House, was built by a Virginian in the 1820´s.
Emory College was moved to Atlanta in 1919 to become the College of Arts and Sciences of Emory University which was founded in 1915 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The junior college, established in 1929, is called Oxford College of Emory University and continues to operate on the original campus.
The whole town, including Oxford College, was designated as Shrine number 16 by the General Conference in 1972.
Continued on side 2
SHRINE NO. 16 GENERAL CONFERENCE,
THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 1972
Plaque courtesy Lat34North.com.
Original page, with additional info, here.
Photo credit: Byron Hooks of Lat34North.com.