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 Medford Downtown Historic District - Medford, Oregon Posted by:  ddtfamily
N 42° 19.537 W 122° 52.596
10T E 510167 N 4685936
Medford's historic commercial district, added to the National Register in 1998
Waymark Code: WMFWDJ
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 12/07/2012
Views: 17
Medford, population 75,501 (as of July 2011), is the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon. But this was not originally the case.
From the 1850's to the 1880's, the most important city in the region was Jacksonville, a gold rush town located about 5 miles west of Medford. The Oregon and California Railroad began building a line south from Portland and by November 1883 the line reached the city of Grants Pass. The next stop on the line was expected to be in or near Jacksonville, but one story says that when asked by the railroad company for a $25,000 payment, the town refused and the rail line was instead built five miles east, through the center of the Rogue Valley. Another account is that the rail line would simply have been more expensive to build further west due to a ridge of mountains north of Jacksonville. The end result is that the railroad bypassed Jacksonville and a new town, ultimately named Medford, was founded in December 1883 along the new rail line. In February 1885, Oregon Governor Z.F. Moody signed articles of incorporation for the City of Medford. In 1926, the people voted to move the county seat from Jacksonville to Medford.
Medford's downtown historic district covers the area between 4th and 9th Streets & Riverside and Oakdale Avenues. It contains 104 contributing buildings and 1 contributing site (Library/Alba Park).
Note: GPS Coordinates are from the entrance to the Holly Theater (shown above - built in 1930)
Note: Click a photo to enlarge
Street address:
Between 4th and 9th Streets & Riverside and Oakdale Avenues
Medford, OR USA
97501
County / Borough / Parish: Jackson
Year listed: 1998
Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering
Periods of significance: 1925-1949, 1900-1924, 1875-1899
Historic function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic, Government, Landscape, Religion
Current function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic, Government, Landscape, Religion
Privately owned?: no
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]
Season start / Season finish: Not listed
Hours of operation: Not listed
Secondary Website 2: Not listed
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.
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