William Holmes McGuffey House

The William Holmes McGuffey House is one of Oxford's most historically significant sites. McGuffey was a professor of ancient languages at Miami University from 1826 and later chair of moral philosophy. During his time here he wrote the first four of his celebrated Eclectic Readers — graded elementary textbooks that became the most widely used educational materials in 19th-century America.

The house itself is a modest two-storey structure typical of the era. It operates as a museum maintained by Miami University, with period furnishings and exhibits on McGuffey's life and the remarkable cultural reach of his readers. A single-sentence summary: a country schoolteacher who happened to be in Oxford, Ohio in the 1830s shaped how millions of Americans learned to read.

The museum is free and open by appointment; contact Miami University's libraries for current access information.

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A story
McGuffey's Eclectic Readers, first published in 1836, sold more than 120 million copies between 1836 and 1960 — making them among the most widely distributed books in American history. McGuffey wrote the first four while teaching at Miami University. The fifth and sixth were written by his brother. A generation of American schoolchildren learned to read with these books.