Medford, Oregon
By November 1883, a depot site had been chosen and a surveying team led by Charles J. Howard was hard at work platting the new town.[9] James Sullivan Howard, a merchant and surveyor,[10] claimed to have built the town's first building in January 1884,[11] though blacksmith Emil Piel was advertising for business at the "central depot" in the middle of December 1883.[5][18] Between World War II and the 1960s, Medford had a reputation as a sundown town where African Americans and other nonwhites were not allowed to live or stay at night.It has been blamed for the decline of small businesses in downtown Medford since its completion,[20] but nevertheless remains an important route for commuters wishing to travel across the city.[26] Several old buildings have been restored, including the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater and the Prohibition era Cooley-Neff Warehouse, now operating as Pallet Wine Company, an urban winery.[28] The project, one of the largest undertaken in downtown in recent years, aims to provide more parking, recreation, and commerce to the area.As such, most of the rain associated with the Pacific Northwest (and Oregon in particular) skips Medford, making it drier and sunnier than the Willamette Valley.[34] Medford also experiences temperature inversions in the winter which during its lumber mill days produced fog so thick that visibility could be reduced to less than five feet (1.5 m).[35][36][failed verification] Medford residents experience snowfall during the winter that, due to the weather shadow effect, averages 3.4 inches (8.6 cm) and melts fairly quickly.The largest direct marketer of fruits and food gifts in the United States, Harry and David Operations Corp., is based in Medford.[56] Lithia Motors, a Fortune 500 company and the 4th largest auto retailer in the U.S.,[57] has been headquartered in Medford since 1970 and was started in Ashland in 1946, named for a nearby springs.[58][59] Other companies located in the city include Benchmark Maps,[60] Falcon Northwest, Pacific International Enterprises, and Tucker Sno-Cat.Medford and the surrounding area is home to the expanding Oregon wine industry, which includes the Rogue Valley AVA.The city's historic downtown has undergone an economic recovery in recent years, using a combination of public funds and private investment.The revitalization effort led to the renovation of underutilized downtown properties and to the construction of a new Lithia Motors headquarters building in the district, completed in 2012.[61] Hospitality company The Neuman Hotel Group, based in nearby Ashland, OR, took over management and ownership of a large downtown motel, The Red Lion, in 2014, that had fallen into disrepair.It was erected in 1911 thanks to a gift from Andrew Carnegie, but was vacated in 2004 after a new library building was constructed near the Rogue Community College extension campus, also in downtown Medford.[65] Finished in 1997 at the intersection of E. Main St and Central Ave in downtown Medford, Vogel Plaza has quickly become a center of activity for many local events.[68] The park contains a gazebo, a statue of a boy with two dogs surrounded by a fountain pool, and a Japanese gun from World War II.[89] In 1997, Grants Pass-based Rogue Community College (RCC) completed construction on a seven-building campus spanning five blocks in downtown Medford.[90] Nearby Ashland-based Southern Oregon University collaborated with Rogue in 2007 on the construction of an eighth building which will offer third- and fourth-year courses to students.[97] With print editions three days a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays), the first of which was published on February 18, the new paper was initially named the Rogue Valley Tribune.[96][97] In addition to having several athletes who were famous natives or residents of the city, Medford has played host to several professional sports teams since 1948.It was the home city for several professional baseball teams, most notably the Medford A's, later known as the Southern Oregon Timberjacks, of the Northwest League.They were a short-season single-A minor league baseball affiliate of the Oakland Athletics who played at historic Miles Field from 1979 to 1999 before relocating to Vancouver, British Columbia.[107] All routes connect at the Front Street Transfer Station, which since October 2008 has contained Medford's Greyhound Bus depot.Even a small "handysize" freighter is unable to make the trip,[114] and any ship hauling cargo to Medford would have to have a much smaller draw.During March and April of one year, students from Medford's high schools will visit Alba and stay with host families.
county seatMedford Carnegie LibraryVogel PlazaJackson CountyOregonCountryCountyJacksonCity managerTime zoneUTC−8UTC−7ZIP CodesArea codes541, 458FIPS codeJackson County, Oregon2020 United States Censuseighth-most populous citymetropolitan areaOregon and California RailroadMedford, MassachusettsConcord, MassachusettsBear CreekGold HillRogue ValleyJacksonvilleClaire Hanley ArboretumpostmasterOregon Legislative AssemblyAndrew Carnegiesundown townInterstate 5Pacific HighwayCrater Lake Highwayurban renewalCraterian Ginger Rogers TheaterRogue Community CollegeSouthern Oregon UniversityLithia MotorsGreyhound BusCaliforniaUnited States Census BureauUpper and Lower Table RockMount McLoughlinCrater LakeMount MazamaWelcome signrain shadowCascade RangeSiskiyou MountainsWillamette ValleyMediterranean climateKöppenhardiness zonetemperature inversionsdiurnal temperature variationRogue Valley International–Medford Airportprecipitationrelative humiditydew pointBlack or African AmericanNative AmericanAlaska NativePacific IslanderOther raceMixed Race or Multi-RacialHispanic or Latinocensuspopulation densityAfrican Americanother racesHispanicLatinomarried couplesRogue Regional Medical CenterviticultureHarry and David Operations Corp.Fortune 500Falcon NorthwestPacific International EnterprisesTucker Sno-CatOregon wineRogue Valley AVAPear Blossom Runcity hallsister cityAlba, ItalygazeboPrescott ParkBear Creek Greenwayskateparkdog parkamphitheaterplaygroundincinerating garbagegirl scoutPear Blossom ParkRoxy Ann PeakMunicipal governmentscouncil-managerJerry LausmannAl DensmoreMedford School District (Oregon)alternative high schoolsSouth Medford High SchoolNorth Medford High SchoolCentral Medford High SchoolSt. Mary's SchoolCascade Christian High Schoolmiddle schoolsHedrickRogue Valley Adventist SchoolPacific Bible CollegeKDSO-LDKFBI-LDMyNetworkTVKDOV-FMKTMT-FMKBOY-FMKCMX-FMMail TribuneEO Media GroupMedford A'sSouthern Oregon TimberjacksNorthwest League