Oxford Grain & Hay Co.
Chester Co. | Pennsylvania | USA
Watersource: Electricity
Oxford Grain & Hay Co.
Located at the Pa 472 and its junction with Pa 10 termination in the center of Oxford, SE of US 1. Go east on Pa 472/High St./Market St. past the Conrail tracks, turn left on Railroad St, and the mill is on the left along the tracks just past New Sreet.
Oxford Grain & Hay Co. Is the oldest business in existance in Oxford still operating. The business, along the old Philadelphia-Baltimore Central Railroad (now Conrail), was begun in 1865 as S.R.Dickey began dealing in grain, hay, lumber, and farm supplies.
The side/end/ SW entrance to the warehouse. The firm changed hands from 1900-1919; from Dickey to C. Raymond Kirk, then W. Maurice Bunting, J.C.Hayes, and L.C. Shoemaker.
A well in the basement of the 1880 warehouse near the end with the Oxford Grain & Feed Co. logo. Also large several large tapering sguare wooden bins that triangulated down into a cone shape for grain drying.
The grain was augered up to the sencon floor from the basement triangular bins, then gravity fed out the railroad side of the mill through doors like the one on the left, through chutes, into railcars bound for Philadelphia or Baltimore.
This bulk feed mixer in the east end of the brick warehouse on the groundfloor level suggests the warehouse converted to doing some feed custom mixing for local farmers once it got electricity; this was probably purchased from Bowman's Generating Plant, established in 1893 in Oxford.
A linrshaft running through the atticnear the peak with various pulleys and belt point-of-attachments.
A period photo near the turn of the 20th century of the brick warehouse and railroad cars used to ship grain and hay to horse stables in Baltimore and Philadelphia, almost equal distance, Baltimore being 2 miles closer.
Part of a ledger page chronologing sales of seeds, fertilizer, lumber, and coal to the local townsfolk.
From 1946 to the present, the business has been either partly or completely owned by the Drennen family, of which 5th generation Drennens are staffing customer service counters in the new America's Country Store retail outlet of Oxford Feed & Lumber Co. today.
Read about the full history of and present services offered by the company by clicking the website link above the top picture.
This is the new in 2000, retail store for old Oxford Grain & Feed Co./ Oxford Feed & Lumber Co. Atten: Cris Drennnen, I tried to reply to your inquiry, but the e-mailreturned as undeliverable. Well, now as you can see, the mill is now on the website.