The Oxford Orphanage's 40-acre campus is situated on the highest hill in
the area just north of downtown Oxford. The St. John's College building
was THE building on campus for many years, until Letitia Walker donated
funds for the new building for young boys in the late 1880s. In the early
20th century eight cottages were constructed, four for girls and four for
boys. The Superintendent, Treasurer, Chaplain, Dean of Students, Farm
Manager, and Printing Department Manager each acquired their own
residences.
The John Nichols School and Blue Lodge Vocational Building replaced the
older spaces available in the old College and the smaller printing,
electrical, and woodworking shops. The York Rite Memorial Chapel and St.
John's Administration Building, both completed in the mid-1950s, were the
last major buildings constructed on the campus.
Through the 1960s and 1970s the older cottage buildings had to be
destroyed; they were absolutely crumbling. Beginning with Gray Cottage
and ending with Shipman, newer, more efficient cinderblock cottages were
constructed. The campus of today resembles the campus of a century ago in
layout alone, but to anyone who grew up there, it will remain home.
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Aerial View of the Campus (1951)
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Old campus from College St (4-B, 1-B, and St. John's building)
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Old campus from Forest Ave
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Original St. John's College
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The Walker Building
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Old Printing Department
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First Girls' Cottage
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Fourth Girls' Cottage (4-G)
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Another of the Original Cottages
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Superintendent's Residence
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Treasurer's Residence
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Dunn Building
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Fire at the Royster Building
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Royster Building's Ruins
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Demise of the Duke Building, 1984
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Laying of the Gym Cornerstone (Sudan Band playing on platform)
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the Grand Master, Maurice Parham, and A.D. Gray at the Gym Cornerstone laying
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Construction of Regan Cottage
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Old Administration Building
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St. Johns' Administration Building
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John Nichols School Building
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York Rite Memorial Chapel
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Laying of the St. Johns' Building Cornerstone
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