The block on North Main Street between Laurel and Manzanita streets has been associated with education in Ashland for 150 years, since the Rev. Skidmore first started a college called “The Academy” in 1872. Briscoe Elementary was dedicated in 1949 and closed in 2004. The school is now owned by the city and leased to the Oregon Child Development Coalition.
At the end of May, faced with the challenges of the pandemic and staffing shortages, Standing Stone served its last Oak Street Amber and closed its doors for good. Floyd and Margaret Whittle would probably be surprised their little leased garage building became a beloved restaurant.
Originally called “Ashland Mills,” Ashland was founded around Abel Helman’s water-powered sawmill on Ashland Creek, later transformed into a flour mill. The Ashland Woolen Mill, on Helman Street, was one of the city’s major employers in the 19th century. As late as the 1950s, Ashland still boasted half a dozen lumber mills.
Ashland boosters in the early 1920s would have none of building a hotel the same size as those of rival towns; they would build the tallest building between San Francisco and Portland!
Lithia Park is often called Ashland’s “crown jewel.” Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, it was among the first public parks in southern Oregon — but, if not for a group of persistent women, things would be much different.
What’s now a treasured-yet-crumbling Ashland landmark started as an attraction at an international exposition in San Francisco more than a century ago.
Oregon state Sen. Jeff Golden announced in a news release Friday, Feb. 13, he plans to retire at the end of his current term and will withdraw his filing for reelection.
A joint Ashland City Council and Parks & Recreation Commission meeting Wednesday took a look at governance confusion, project missteps, and looming budget concerns as the city pauses its search for a new parks director.
Herbert Rothschild: I hope Congress renames Dulles International Airport for Trump. Then, after Trump has receded into infamy, Congress can rename the airport for someone far more deserving than either he or the Dulles brothers.
For the first time since the pandemic, four of Oregon’s most dedicated community choirs will come together Sunday in Ashland to sing their hearts out for peace.
A Democrat, Isabella Lee Tibbetts, is challenging incumbent Colleen Roberts for her seat on the Jackson County Board of Commissioners. Upcoming deadlines for the primary election include a Feb. 27 deadline for any county/city/district ballot titles; a March 3 deadline for any incumbents to declare their bids for reelection; a March 10 deadline for all “other than elected incumbent” candidates to file; and a March 19 deadline for county/city/district measures to be filed.
During a wide-ranging campus conversation on Friday, Feb. 6, Southern Oregon University President Rick Bailey said he planned to have discussions with the Governor’s Office, including about the possibility of asking for a one-time, estimated $15 million payment from the state of Oregon to SOU to help “bridge” the campus financially to the summer of 2027.
(It’s free)
