Medford, Oregon 2025

Medford is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. As of July 1, 2019, the city had a total population of 82,347 and a metropolitan population of 217,465. [2] The city was founded in 1883 near the former site of a Takelma seasonal encampment and is named after Medford, Massachusetts. [3] Located 27 miles (43 km) northwest of Medford, it is the largest city in Jackson County and the Rogue Valley. [4] [5]

The Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport and the Rogue Community College's main campus are both located in Medford. [6] [7]The city is home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Mail Tribune, and Rogue Valley Medical Center. [8][9] [10] Medford has plenty of outdoor pursuits, including the nearby Rogue River and the Siskiyou Mountains, and its mild climate makes it a popular retirement destination. [6] [11] [12]

Population: According to the US Census Bureau, as of 2019, the city had an estimated population of 82,347. [13]

Culture: Every summer, Medford, Oregon hosts the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which produces Shakespeare's plays, as well as other classic and modern plays. [14] In 2014, the festival employed approximately 700 people. [15] With 1,017 seats, the Angus Bowmer Theatre, built in 1970, is the festival's largest theater. [16] The outdoor Elizabethan Theatre was built in 1959 and renovated in 2001; it has 1,030 seats. [17] The Thomas Theatre is a black box theatre with a flexible seating capacity of up to 400, depending on the configuration. [18] [19]

Special Events: The Medford-based Oregon Shakespeare Festival is the largest theater festival in the United States. [20] Each year, the festival produces eleven plays in three theaters from February through October, as well as numerous special events. [20] It produces between 700 and 800 performances of eight to eleven plays. [21] [20] In 1935, the festival adopted the slogan "Oregon Shakespeare Festival" and was founded in 1935. [22] The festival began with 400 seats as an outdoor summer theater. [23] [20] [23]

Local attractions: Medford's Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport serves as a portal to Oregon's southern region. [7] [24] The airport is served by a few major airlines: Allegiant Air, American Airlines/American Eagle, Delta Air Lines/Delta Connection, and United Airlines/United Express. [25] [24]

Rogue Valley Medical Center, a healthcare facility that was opened in 1951 and expanded in 1978, 1983, and 1994. [26] The hospital received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2003. [27] [28] [29]

Medford has several shopping centers, including Rogue Valley Mall, Medford Center, and North Medford Plaza. [30] In 1984, Rogue Valley Mall opened with 28 stores. [31] [32] Lithia Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge of Medford, one of the largest dealerships in the country, is also located in the city. [33] [34]

Food: In 1999, Brady Flavors, Inc. began producing blueberry, boysenberry, strawberry, and raspberry syrups for the Medford-based company, Oregon Fruit Products. [35][36] The company sells products to chefs, bakers, sorbet producers, and winemakers. [37] [38]

People: Medford's mayor is Mike Erikson. [39] [40] Local and county officials gathered in 1958 to form the Rogue Valley Council of Governments. [41] [42] [43]

History: Early settlers began arriving in the Rogue Valley in the 1840s, but the town of Medford, named after Medford, Massachusetts, was not plated until 1883. [44] Henry Klippel, a butcher, and John N. T. Morse, a surveyor from Jacksonville, filed the plat for Medford. [45] [46] The center of the town was a square park, and the streets were named after their respective compass directions. [47] [48] On May 24, 1883, T.J. Myer's hall was the venue for the town's first documented public meeting. [49] [50]

Lewis A. Royal, from Butte Falls, began constructing the first brick building in Medford in 1884. [51] C.W. Wolters, who bought the building in 1906, renamed it the "Wolters building." [52] The Medford Masonic Lodge No. 103 bought the building in 1922. [53] G.H. Peck, W.M. Peck's son, built the Peck Building in 1886. [54] The Peck family sold the building in 1911 to John H. Weeks, who remodeled it and renamed it the Weeks Building. [55] [56]

Earthquakes: According to a United States Geological Survey scientist, the chance of a very destructive earthquake occurring in the Oregon coastal counties within the next 50 years is greater than 62 percent. [57] [58] The city of Medford is vulnerable to earthquakes. [57]