Earl Miller Leads Progress in Jackson County, Ore.

Serving as either Medford mayor or Jackson County judge between 1948 and the 1970s, Earl M. Miller believed a healthy community must have good schools, good roads, and good water.
Miller advocated school consolidations and increased school budgets, oversaw the expansion of Medford’s water and sewer systems to serve other Rogue Valley communities, and established the Rogue Valley Council of Governments.
Miller pushed for the current location of the I-5 freeway, which he later admitted might have been a mistake, and the Mount Ashland access road.  He expanded the airport.
Miller built the Howard Prairie Resort and improved the Willow Lake facilities.  He encouraged preservation of historic structures, including McKee Bridge and the Beekman House.  He rebuilt the National Guard Armory after it burned down.  Miller obtained larger quarters for the County Health Department and the Extension Service.
While the county was receiving a steady income from O&C timber harvests, Miller carefully crafted each budget to take advantage of that income, even setting some aside for a county justice building.
Miller credited the thousands of volunteers on commissions and committees for getting things done.
Source:  Hutchinson, Peggyann. "Earl Miller Guided City, County Developments." Medford Mail Tribune, profile ed., p. 12, found in the “Miller” Vertical file at the SOHS Research Library.