Oxford County celebrates 175th anniversary with new book

Debbie Kasman, Echo Correspondent

Oxford County is celebrating its 175th anniversary, a significant chapter in its history.

The county has been celebrating the special monument with social media posts, exhibits at the administration building in Woodstock the Legislative Assembly in Toronto.

The county has existed for 233 years after being proclaimed in 1792, but counties at that time were created for the organization of the militia and electoral representation in parliament and districts controlled government until 1849.

The Baldwin Act took effect in 1851 and established a two-tier system of municipal government. Districts were replaced by counties as the senior level of local government.

At that time, counties were composed of various cities, towns, villages and townships, each with its own local council. The councils were initially elected by men who lived in the jurisdiction or who had property with a value of $400. Local councils were headed by reeves who, as part of their duties, sat on county council.

Oxford County has existed for 175 years as a county with civil government functions and 174 years as a county with its present-day territory.

There was a restructuring in 1975 where the townships of 1851 were kept, but the municipal territories within that county were changed and were merged with new names.

Blandford and Blenheim merged to form Blandford-Blenheim, and West Oxford, Dereham Township and the village of Beachville merged to create South-West Oxford.

East Zorra, North Oxford, and West Zorra were combined into the Township of Zorra. East Zorra and Tavistock merged to form East Zorra-Tavistock. Additionally, Norwich, Simcoe, and Dereham were transferred from Norfolk County to Oxford.

As part of its anniversary celebration, Oxford County Archives is planning a new book to commemorate the occasion. The book is the Oxford County Archives’ largest project for the year and was written by archives staff as well as local community contributors such as Drumbo and District Heritage Society and Museum, Oxford Historical Society, Plattsville and District Historical Society, Zorra Heritage Committee, Oxford County Library, Norwich and District Museum, Tavistock and District Historical Society, Beachville District Museum and Scott Gillies.

The book will be available by the end of June and will be for sale at the archives as well as at various locations throughout the county.

A new exhibit will also be launching at the Woodstock Art Gallery from July 12 until January 24, 2026. It will explore the history of some of the county’s iconic administrative buildings, including courthouses, the jail, registry offices and the house of refuge. It will highlight some of the architectural drawings, photographs and artwork maintained by the Oxford County Archives.

One final project for the year will be a fall video series with a few county councillors delving into archival records related to their family history.

A big thank you goes out to Liz Dommasch, Archivist of Oxford County Archives and Dr. George Emery, professor emeritus at Western University, for their historical contributions to this article.