People who remodel old houses often find surprises. For example, John Derrickson bought the old Samuel Williams house in Grants Pass, Ore., in 2010. While cleaning the upstairs, he came upon old papers, booklets, and more -- a treasure trove of Williams family history.

In 1896, Susanne Homes was a member of the first graduating class of Southern Oregon State Normal School in Ashland, a forerunner to present-day Southern Oregon University.

California physician Dr. Francis Townsend developed a plan in 1932 to get the country out of the Great Depression. He proposed that everyone over 60 years old be given $200 a month that had to be spent that same month. Townsend said it would stabilize the lives of the elderly and provide jobs for the young, and could be funded with a 2 percent sales tax.

Oregon was a rough place to live in 1911, especially for widows, but Oregon women demonstrated repeatedly that they were not to be dismissed lightly.

For 20 years, until 1931, Mark and Ada Merrill had a traveling tent show that featured two bears, two Shetland ponies, sheep, monkeys and dogs. They were a very enterprising couple.

Artistically talented Frederick Andrews originally came to Southern Oregon to find a homestead site. He eventually became known as the best artist of plants in the United States.

How the desert road stop on Hwy 395 got the name Wagontire remains as unanswered today as it was in 1903 when the Lake County Examiner newspaper told its story.

Verne Athanas started out working in the Oregon lumber industry and ended up as a successful writer of Westerns.

Described as one of the most daring and spectacular highwaymen in the Pacific Northwest, John Austin Hooper was certainly prolific.

Special military trains passed through Southern Oregon 100 years ago, carrying thousands of drafted soldiers to Army training at Fort Lewis, Wash.