Historical Society Discovers Medford

The Southern Oregon Historical Society recently discovered its collection contains what may be the first promotional pamphlet for the City of Medford, Ore. The pamphlet contains only text, without the idyllic photos of mountains, orchards or vineyards found in later publications. The Medford Board of Trade published the pamphlet, perhaps one of 10,000 printed in 1902 and publicized in the Mail Tribune newspaper.What did they have to say about Medford in 1902? The document praised a population of “nearly 2500 industrious, wide-awake citizens” in a “city of schools and churches,” and described solidly built, large brick buildings. The pamphlet said Medford raised some of the best horses ever grown on the Pacific coast, its timber forests were vast and fine, and it produced world famous red and yellow apples. Regional wheat was full, plump and well matured. The pamphlet enthused that the Rogue Valley only “awaited the magic touch of the willing hand of industry to bud and blossom and bear rich fruits of a progressive, Christian civilization.”Such pamphlets contributed to a real estate boom. Later, Medford’s orchard boom went bust, but that’s another story. Sources: A Few Facts Concerning the Rogue River Valley, Oregon. Pamphlet : Medford Board of Trade, 1902. Found in Southern Oregon Historical Society Archive. Print; "The Medford Board of Trade has had 10,000 pamphlets printed, descriptive of Medford and the Rogue River Valley." Southern Oregon History, Revised. Ed. Ben Truwe. Medford Mail Tribune, 11 Apr. 1902. Web. 20 Sept. 2013.