In 1803, a college township was set aside in the almost uninhabited woodlands of northwestern Butler County. In 1810, a year after Miami University (link is external) was chartered, the Village of Oxford was laid out and the first lots were sold. In the following year the first school was built and by 1830, with a population of over 700, the Village of Oxford was incorporated. A charter form of government was adopted in 1960 and a decade later population growth had turned the village into a full-fledged city.

The original boundaries of the City consisted of the Mile Square. A number of annexations during recent decades increased the size, resulting in the City currently consisting of approximately seven square miles.

Miami University was founded in 1809 and has about 14,000 undergraduate students today. Miami University is the second oldest liberal arts educational institution in Ohio.