Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1915-02-04
Building a City
On Health

or MT. Ashland ana MI. wagner, the
two grizzled old peaks that mark the
extreme southern end of the Oregon
Coast range, is the city of Ashland,
a railway division point that boasts
of six thousand inhabitants, the best
peaches in the world and health
giving, health-restoring climate. No
one has ever accused Ashland of lack
ing in civic pride. Well-built homes,
paved streets, fine schools and an
eight-acre city park, the pride of
southern Oregon, bear witness to the
enterprise of her people. A score or
more of trophies, cups, medals and
ribbons, mostly blue, further estab-
lish the fact that Ashland has been
more than able to hold her own
against all comers wherein was raised
"a question as to the superiority of
the products of orchard or field.
But the people of Ashland were not
content merely to have their city
known as city of peaches or
peach of city," if the slang may be
pardoned. They ached for greater
achievement and they looked about
them for greater worlds to conquer.
They found the object of the first at
tack of their ambition in the numer-
GUS springs, soda, lithia, sulphur,
which have been bubbling away
healthful waters for centuries past
from various openings in the earth's
crust round about the city. Every
one who knows anything about south
ern Oregon, especially the southern
most end of the Rogue River Valley,
knows that medicinal springs abound
in this region. There are Helman
Sulphur Springs, Jackson Hot Sui
phur Springs, Tolman Springs, Wag-
ner Soda Springs, Colestin Springs,
Ashland Mineral Springs, Ashland
Lithia Springs, Shepherds Soda
Springs and Kingsbury's Soda Springs
and score or more others which
have not been dignified as yet with
names. Now from these springs come
waters that vie with the pure noun
tain air and the breath from the pine
clad hills in health-giving, invigorat-
ing qualities. Some of these springs
are within the city limits of Ashland,
some are distant few miles, Others
are distant as much as twoscore miles
or more. The people of Ashland saw
in them an asset as incalculable as
the rich soil of their peach and apple
and pear orchards. 1--WE will pipe
these waters into our city," they said,
land centralize their various charms"
So they set about making plans for
corraling the waters that for centur-
les had wasted their strength and
their vitalizing power upon unappre'
ciative hillsides and bringing them
into the city. They voted bonds to
a total of $175,000, the dissenting
vote being so negligible as to be un-
worthy of consideration, and they are
now selling these bonds. With the
money thus raised they propose to
install great pipe line system that
will make each spring empty its
health and wealth into the city. Nat
atoriums, sanatoriums and hotels will
follow, and, needless to say, people
will come from all parts of the coun-
try to enjoy that which the enter
prise of the people of the city of Ash
land has made possible.
If medicinal springs were the sole
asset of Ashland 1t would still give
promise of a great future city, but,
as has already been indicated, Ash
land has far more solid ground upon
which to build. There are the fruit
and nut orchards, the vegetable gar
dens, the diversified farms and the
dairy and poultry ranches of this up
per end of the great Rogue River
Valley. And the kindly mountains
surrounding have revealed deposits
of splendid granite and kaolin from
which dishes and pottery is made,
and coal and various sorts of valuable
minerals. Given all these, Ashland
has still another asset, one that is
more or less elusive, that perhaps
does not appeal to the man wrapped
wholly in the pursuit OF commercial
competence and yet very necessary to
him-the charm of bewitchingly
beautiful location and healthful,
thoroughly delightful climate. They
have kept climatic records for twenty
five years or more in Ashland. These
: records show that in the whole twen-
ty-five years the summer temperature
! has a mean maximum of eighty-seven
degrees and the winter temperature
a mean minimum OF thirty-two de-
grees. And they show that over the
period OF twenty-five years there has
been an annual rainfall OF twenty
seven inches, which Is sufficient to
mature most any sort of field or