As of January 1st, 2023, ownership of The Oxford Cemetery has transferred to the City of Oxford, Ohio.
The Oxford Cemetery Association has determined that it is not feasible to continue operating the Oxford Cemetery as a private association.
The nonprofit association, The Oxford Cemetery Association, will cease to exist at the end of December 2022. Per the Ohio Revised Code, the City of Oxford is assuming responsibility for the ownership, operation, and maintenance of the cemetery. The Oxford Cemetery Association will not be able to answer your questions or provide support after December 31st, 2022. All deeds will continue to be in effect and will be honored by the City of Oxford.
The Oxford Cemetery is located at 4385 Oxford Millville Rd., Oxford, Ohio 45056.
To inquire about gravesites, contact the City of Oxford Department of Finance at 513-524-5202.
The Oxford Cemetery Visitor Information
- The cemetery is open for interments from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Because of increased costs associated with interments on Saturday, Sunday, and legal holidays, there will be an additional charge added to the weekday interment charge.
- All funerals entering the cemetery will be under the charge of the City.
- No interment of two or more bodies shall be made in one grave except in the case of parent and infant in one casket or two infants, or a maximum of two cremains, or one casket and one cremain.
- Arrangements for the payment and all indebtedness due to the City must be made prior to interment.
- The owner of each lot may have erected any proper monument or marker thereon, subject to the Rules and Regulations of the Oxford Cemetery and under the supervision of the City.
- One individual headstone shall be permitted on each gravesite. Such headstones are restricted in size to a maximum of 40" x 14". Double headstones are to be a maximum of 88" x 14". For cremains interred on an existing gravesite, a bronze plaque may be placed on the back of the existing headstone or the headstone may be engraved with information about the deceased. If the above options for cremains are not possible, a flat bronze plaque of 24" x 12" or smaller may be placed on the gravesite. The location of the plaque on said gravesite will be at the discretion of the cemetery manager. A fee will be charged for the foundation and installation of the plaque and that fee must be paid prior to installation.
- One family memorial may be placed on a family plot at the head of the said plot. Footstone markers may be used in conjunction with a family memorial. They will be placed at the foot of each grave and will be no larger than 24" x 12" x 8".
- Military markers are permitted and will be placed on the monument, or when necessary, in front of the monument in a location determined by the City.
- Lot corner marker posts shall be of monumental stone placed level with the grade. Initials may be cut in, not raised. All corner posts will be set by the City or an authorized representative. A charge will be made for this placement.
- Family mausoleums wholly or partially above ground are not permitted.
- Flat monuments that cover the entire gravesite are not permitted.
- All monuments and markers are required to have a foundation installed by the City. To avoid errors, written details with specific dimensions must be received with payment by the City before the foundation for the monument or marker is installed. A 4" foundation border is required around all monuments.
- The general care assumed by the City shall in no case mean the maintenance, repair or replacement of any monument or marker placed or erected on lots or graves; nor the doing of any special or unusual work in the cemetery, including work caused by impoverishment of the soil, nor does it mean the reconstruction of any marble or granite work on any section or plot, or any portion or portions thereof in the cemetery caused by the elements, an act of God, common enemy, thieves, vandals, strikers, malicious mischief makers, explosions, unavoidable accidents, invasions, insurrections, riots, or by order of any military or civil authority, whether the damage be direct or collateral, other than as herein provided.
- The placement of any item not incorporated in monuments and similar articles upon plots will not be permitted.
- The City will undertake to maintain the planting of trees and shrubs to preserve and maintain the landscape features. There shall be no individual bed of flowers, urns, trees, or shrubbery on the grounds.
- No plants, flowers, shrubs or trees shall be permitted to be planted on any lot or grave. If any tree, plant or shrub situated already on any lot shall by means of its roots, branches or otherwise become detrimental, or inconvenient to adjacent lots, walks or drives, the City shall have the right to remove them.
- The City shall not be liable for floral pieces, baskets, etc...
- No artificial flowers are permitted on graves from April1 through October 31 unless they are placed directly on the headstone.
- Funeral flowers will be removed by cemetery staff after three days.
- Winter decorations will be permitted from November 1 through March 31. If they become unsightly, they will be removed by cemetery staff.
- Decorations and flowers placed on graves for special holidays during the mowing season will be removed the following Friday.
- One American flag is permitted per grave.
- Articles of concrete such as benches, urns, and boxes are not permitted.
- Any item that would create a safety hazard for staff or visitors will be removed. Such items include, but are not limited to, pieces of wire or steel to secure decorations in place, toys, ornaments, bottles, vases, crockery and knick-knacks of any kind. Power mowers and trimmers can inadvertently throw such items through the air, endangering workmen and visitors alike.
- The City reserves the right, without further notice, to remove and dispose of any decorations which violate the rules or otherwise interfere with the appearance or the safe grounds operations of the cemetery.
- No liability is assumed by the City for any decoration.
- Persons visiting the cemetery or attending funerals are prohibited from picking flowers, or injuring any tree, shrub or plant or defacing any memorials or other structure within the cemetery.
- To promote the best interests of the cemetery, the management is authorized to make additional temporary rules which may be needed from time to time, to meet emergencies not covered by these Rules and Regulations.
- Special cases may arise in which literal enforcement of a rule may impose unnecessary hardship. The City therefore, reserves the right to make exceptions, suspensions or modifications of any of these Rules and Regulations without notice, when in the judgment of the Management such actions appear necessary; and such temporary exception, suspension or modification shall in no way be construed as affecting the general application of such Rules and Regulations.
- The City hereby expressly reserves the right to adopt additional Rules and Regulations or to amend, alter or repeal any rule, regulation, article, section, paragraph or sentence in these Rules and Regulations, at any time and without notice.
- The right of the City to enlarge, reduce, replat or change the boundaries or grading of the cemetery, or a section or sections, from time to time, including the right to modify or change the locations of or remove or regrade roads, drives, or walks, or any part thereof, is hereby reserved.
- The instrument of conveyance of these Rules and Regulations and any amendments thereto constitute the sole agreement between the City Cemetery Association and the plot owner. The statement of any employee or agent, unless confirmed in writing by the Management, shall in no way bind the City.
| Fees: | Cost: | Notes: |
| Grave Spaces | $975 each | |
| Niches | $1,000 - 2,600 | |
| Grave Opening & Closing | ||
| Monday - Friday | $975 | Additional $200 after 3:30 PM |
| Saturday | $1,175 | |
| Sunday | $1,175 | |
| Cremation Interments | Interment cost includes the cremation urn vault that is required | |
| Monday - Friday | $500 | Additional $200 after 3:30 PM |
| Saturday | $700 | |
| Sunday | $700 | |
| Foundation | $.50/square inch | 4" border is required |
Ownership of the Oxford Cemetery is transferring from The Oxford Cemetery Association to the City of Oxford on January 1st, 2023.
The Oxford Cemetery Association was founded in 1855 by a group of citizens who purchased 31.4 acres of farmland from W.A. Irwin. The land and its surroundings lie just south of the campus of Miami University at 4385 Oxford-Millville Road (US 27). The need for the cemetery developed with the railroad coming to Oxford. The Junction Railroad Company had purchased a right-of-way from village officials and the railroad track bisected the then-existing burial grounds that had served the small community since 1817. Many residents felt the cemetery was no longer a suitable resting place for their loved ones. So with a $500 first payment on the land, the Oxford Cemetery was founded.
The first Association Trustees included a representative cross section of village dwellers: Thomas McCullough (merchant), J.D. Flingwood (grocer), James Smiley (farmer-banker), G.W. Keely (dentist), Elias Kumler (banker), Peter Sutton (Mayor), and Robert Ratliff (teamster). The first burial was that Elizabeth Beeler Collins on August 1st, 1855.
In the early years, graves were dug by hand and adverse weather conditions prevented burials after November 1st. A chapel of 24 square feet was completed in 1870 and the caskets of the deceased rested there until suitable weather and ground conditions allowed for their burial.
A comprehensive history of the cemetery was written by Sylvia F. Ferguson and is available today in the Lane Public Library for the avid historian.
- Guy Potter Benton
- Edgar Ewing Brandon
- Charlie Coles
- Richard W. DeWitt
- De Scott Evans
- Weeb Ewbank
- Daniel Kumler Flickinger
- Victor Furth
- Andrew Dousa Hepburn
- Edgar Stillman Kelley
- Robert White McFarland
- John D. Millett
- Paul G. Pearson
- John Pont
- George Rider
- William H. Shideler
- Phillip Shriver