ON THIS PAGE:
Stones and Bones: Cemetery stone cleaning and research links
Stones and Bones, cleaning cemetery stones, researching ancestors
Delay of Demolition Ordinance,
State and Local History Links

Stones and Bones, Cemetery stone cleaning and research links.

Click image for youtube video:
clean cemetery stone video
Click image for youtube video:

STONES & BONES STUDY REFERENCE:

Before cleaning any cemetery stones, please check with the cemetery sexton or the church Board of Trustees for permission. If there are any questions about the safety of cleaning aparticular stone, email oxfordhistorian@aol.com
OXFORD HISTORICAL REFERENCE LINKS FOR LOCAL RESEARCH:
OXFORDPAST.COM for cemetery and geneology records.  Check references in Geneology records for source of information, has Census records & other references listed.  https://www.oxfordpast.com/

History of Oxford, Connecticut, Litchfield-Hoyt, check index. https://www.our-oxford.info/Books/Litchfield-Hoyt_History_of_Oxford/index.htm

Sexton's reports: https://www.our-oxford.info/cemeteries/sexton-reports/sexton-reports-scans.html

Town Reports: https://www.our-oxford.info/townreports/index.html

William C. Sharpe's History of Oxford and Oxford Sketches & Records, part 2 https://www.our-oxford.info/Books/sharpe/toc.html

Oxford's Record: The First 175 Years   http://www.oxfordpast.com/p1.html

Historic Personalities of the Lower Naugatuck Valley: http://www.oxfordpast.com/HistPers.html

WPA cemetery lists: https://www.our-oxford.info/cemeteries/wpa_headstone_survey/wpa_headstone_survey.html

History of New Haven County, Vol 2 (Oxford) J. L. Rocky: https://archive.org/download/historyofnewhave01rock/historyofnewhave01rock.pdf

Oxford Men in the Civil War: https://www.our-oxford.info/military/civil_war/introduction.html


ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO CHECK:
See if there is a family geneology for the subject's family.
https://linkpendium.com/ct-genealogy/


BOOKS AVAILABLE AT THE OXFORD LIBRARY:
Early Houses of Oxford, 1976
Historic Buildings of Oxford Past and Present - check index for names
Historic Preservation in Oxford

Delay of Demolition Ordinance
Oxford's Delay of Demolition ordinance  was passed by town meeting in June 2007. It requires a maximum 90-day waiting period after a legal notice is published for buildings over 100 years of age.  The delay period allows for consideration of the property's potential for preservation, as well as provides historians an opportunity to document and photograph the building in the event it will be demolished.

Also as a result of the Ordinance, one property owner contacted the Town Historian regarding the old Town Poor House at 51 Hogsback Road, which will probably be demolished later this year.   Here again, the Historical Society obtained the opinion of a qualified preservation/restoration contractor who advises the costs of preserving the building would be prohibitive.  The owner has offered to donate salvage rights to the Oxford Historical Society and a local attorney's office is donating their services to draw up contracts that detail the terms and conditions of the agreement.  Because the old Town Poor House was built close to the time the Twitchell-Rowland Homestead was built, the Society will be able to use salvaged floor boards from Hogsback Road to restore the floor in the original kitchen of the Homestead.  Other portions of the house will be preserved and used in the Homestead and other area preservation and restoration projects.  In the meantime, the interior of the old Town Poor House has been photographed and measured so that the Historical Society can maintain a permanent record of the building that was once an important part of Oxford's history.


(Copy of the Ordinance is available here )



Delay of Demolition Ordinance:  Approved
at Town meeting on Tuesday, June 13th. Thanks for your support of Preservation in Oxford.

Benefits of Delay of Demolition Ordinance:

•  Tool to encourage historic preservation at no cost to the Town.
•  Provides a flexible time period (up to 90 days, maximum) in which preservationists may confer with applicant to discuss possible alternatives - including modification of building, creative and appropriate re-use, or moving; provide opportunity to document the building with measurements and photos for the historic record should the property owner choose to demolish the building.
•  Uses official data from Assessor’s Database to provide age of all buildings.
•  Provides notice to Municipal Historian, the Historical Society and any others who request inclusion in the notification list.
•  Provides for exemption from delay in case of public health and safety.
The Ordinance does  NOT:
•  Prohibit modifications to historic structures.
•  Take away the property owners right to demolish -- just provides for a period of discussion to consider alternatives.

Sites of local Interest:
Oxford's Town History - http://www.our-oxford.info
Oxford Past - Town History with emphasis on Oxford families, http://www.oxfordpast.com
Oxford Historical Society http://www.oxford-historical-society.org
Derby Historical Society - Oxford was part of Derby before its incorporation in 1798 http://derbyhistorical.org/