Oxford Circle

Oxford Circle, along with Castor Gardens, Mayfair, and Tacony, was originally part of Oxford Township and was one of the early suburbs of Philadelphia. The area, which included waterways such as the Tacony Creek and Wissinoming Creek, had been mostly utilized for farming up until the time that the land was sold off to developers just prior to World War II. Most of the brick and stone row houses which characterize this neighborhood today were built by the Hyman Korman Company starting in the early 1940s and continuing into the 1950s. During that time and in the 1960s and 1970s Oxford Circle was a relatively prosperous white middle-class neighborhood and the majority of its residents were Jewish-- either first or second generation Americans whose parents were born in Eastern Europe. White flight and rising crime rates have dramatically changed the neighborhood since the late 1990s to early 2000s. Today's Oxford Circle contains a diverse population, including Caucasian, Jewish, Korean, Hispanic (mostly Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Brazilians), West Indian (mostly Haitians), and African American. Oxford Circle is about 37% Black, 32% White, 22% Hispanic, and 9% Asian.