1870-1900: Oxford Booms Again

1870-1900: Oxford Booms Again. The Oxford Museum. , 1870 , The Oxford census lists 277 inhabitants., 1871 , General Tench Tilghman brings regular Maryland and Delaware Railroad service to Oxford, with its terminal at Pier Street. 3,000 people celebrate the first arriving train., 1870s , Oystering, boatbuilding and farming all help Oxford thrive, while steamboats and the railroad deliver tourists in growing numbers., 10 million bushels of oysters are shipped from Maryland to markets in the north., 1876 , A new school for White children is built in the Town Park, adjoining a small structure moved there in 1868., 1875 , River View House (on the site of the current Robert Morris Inn) opens, providing visitors with rooms, livery stable, a newly dug town well, and a bowling alley., 1878 , Eastford Hall Hotel, the largest structure ever built in Oxford, opens to visitors in Town Park., Molly Stewart is appointed Oxford's first female postmistress. She will serve for 63 years., 1880 , Oxford is now a popular vacation spot, called "The Cape May of Maryland.", 1882 , A causeway is built connecting the Strand to the oyster packing plant and apple orchard on Kerr's Island., 1885 , The new Maryland Military and Naval Academy opens, led by Col. Oswald Tilghman, the son of Gen. Tench Tilghman. The main building is the Eastford Hall Hotel. 254 cadets are enrolled for the first year., 1888 , Maryland Military and Naval Academy is forced to close due to protests by cadets and poor management., Eastford Hall reopens as a tourist hotel., 1890 , Oxford's population reaches 1200., There are 68 businesses operating in Oxford including: 9 seafood packing houses, an ice cream parlor, 11 grocery stores, 6 dry good and clothing stores, 4 general stores, 2 boot and shoe dealers, 2 millineries, a butcher, a barber, 2 livery stables, a dentist, 3 carpenters, 2 doctors, a drug store, a bank, a furrier…, 1894 , Eastford Hall Hotel burns. Sinclair House, Ornis House, River View Hotel, Tred Avon Inn and several boarding houses on the Strand continues to welcome summer vacationers.