Oxford, Mississippi, is one of those college towns, fairly or not, overshadowed by campus. The University of Mississippi, the state’s flagship college and called “Ole Miss” by just about everyone, will always be the big draw. Especially on Saturdays during the college football season, when alumni and fans descend upon the city. To put it in perspective, the official capacity of Vaught–Hemingway Stadium (64,038) is more than double Oxford’s year-round population (29,996) as recorded in the 2020 Census. But beyond campus and the hallowed ground of the football field—college football is, after all, the all-but-established state religion of the South—is a town that punches well above its weight. No place is that more evident than downtown with its landmark square. As the seat of surrounding Lafayette County—named after the Marquis de Lafayette, the celebrated Frenchman who fought for the cause of liberty and independence during the American Revolution and later became …
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