In 1910, Grants Pass parties sometimes made the front page of the local paper. They included dances, but more often were organized around a picnic and games aimed at getting young men and women together.

A significant measles outbreak in 1917 at Lincoln Elementary School in Medford, Ore., serves as a reminder that before vaccinations were available, outbreaks were common in the Rogue Valley.

Early settlers traveling the Applegate Trail to Oregon passed within 100 yards of the present-day Tub Springs State Wayside alongside the scenic Green Springs Highway linking Ashland and Klamath Falls.

Although they do not appear to have much in common, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Caveman Bridge in Grants Pass share a common characteristic. Each has been declared a portal to the Redwood Empire, the Golden Gate the southern entrance and the Caveman the northern.

It was common for newspapers in the early 1900’s to print personal news items from outlying communities. Today those briefs chronicle contemporary daily life. For example, here are some items from the Medford Mail in November 1908 about Stringtown, a community strung along the tracks near present-day Phoenix, Ore.

The Lava Beds National Monument in Northeast California has been called both “a place where time stood still” and “the land of burnt out fires.”

The Snowden School District was located along the right-hand side of the Montague-Ager Road north of Montague, Calif.

Predictions of rain were threatening disaster at the fourth annual Strawberry Festival in Roseburg, Ore., in May 1913. But the clouds cleared and the festival had three days of perfect sunshine that drew thousands of enthusiastic travelers from around the state.

One afternoon in 1905, renowned opera singer Ed Andrews, musical director Charles Hazelrigg and members of his Andrews Opera troupe arrived without fanfare at the Medford, Ore., train station. Having traveled by train through the Rogue Valley frequently, they had decided to close their opera company and move to Medford.

A boy growing up in the mining country of Southern Oregon’s Illinois Valley had plenty of opportunity to get into mischief. Orval Robertson was no exception. While his father was busy trying to strike it rich, Robertson, born in 1891, had the run of the mining camps.