Ashland - Southern Oregon

Ashland is the southern-most town in Oregon, a few miles north of the California border. Set in a scenic valley that leads to the summit over the Siskiyou Mountains, this town has developed a unique identity in southern Oregon as the home of the world-renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival. This 1.8-mile walk, with some healthy ups and downs, will take you through the central core, and includes a stretch through scenic Lithia Park.

The walk starts in front of the Ashland Public Library. The building was erected in 1913. Its $16,500 cost was 90% covered by a grant from the Carnegie Foundation, responsible for thousands of public libraries across the U.S.

In front of the Library, on a retaining wall along Main Street, is the Ashland Peace Wall. The Wall was designed and installed in 2010. It seems to exemplify one concept of Ashland, in Southern Oregon, as "Berkeley in a sea of red."

From the library head to the west down Main Street toward downtown Ashland. At the first intersection is this statuary, the Mickelson-Chapman fountain, constructed in 1929.

Continue on Main Street into downtown Ashland. This well-preserved district has a number of historic buildings dating from the late 19th century, with lots of shops to browse through, and eating and drinking establishments to enjoy.

After one long block turn left on Second Street, and head up a short, steep hill. On your right is the Winchester Inn, a well-regarded hotel located in several old converted houses. The main building is on the National Register of Historic Places, the Fordyce Roper House, built in 1886. The house was originally located down the hill on Main Street, but was moved up to this location in 1910. It also served as a sanitarium of the Oregon State Hospital for a time.

After one block turn right onto Hargadine Street. Proceed one block. At the corner of First and Hargadine is the Oregon Cabaret Theatre. However the building the theatre is located in has a much older and much different history, having been constructed in 1911 as the Ashland First Baptist Church.

From Hargadine Street you get a great view above downtown Ashland and to the hills beyond. In the foreground is the Ashland Springs Hotel, built in 1925, and still the tallest building in town. The hills beyond, on south-facing slopes, are noticeably dryer than the north-facing slopes upon which the city sits.

Continue along Hargadine Street to Pioneer Street. At the corner of Pioneer and Hargadine is Carpenter Hall, which houses the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Box Office. However the building began its life in 1923 as a Christian Science Church. The Festival acquired it in 1973, and in 1999 was thwarted in an attempt to move it to another site in the city and replace it with more theater space. So here it remains.

On the other side of Pioneer Street, down the hill, is the main site of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. From modest beginnings in 1935 the Festival has grown into a major repertory theater company, with year-round productions of Shakespeare's plays and many other stage works. Use of the site itself dates back to 1893, when it hosted Chautauqua events.

Turn left onto Pioneer Street. The first house on the left side of the street is this Craftsman-style classic, built in 1909.

After a few more houses the part of Pioneer Street accessible to motor vehicles ends, and you will continue past the gate onto an unpaved section of the roadway, which also serves as the uphill boundary of Lithia Park. The hill continues upward to the left, with some hillside houses towering above the roadway.

Eventually you will see this stairway going downhill into Lithia Park. This is a "back" entrance to the park. Lithia Park is a 100-acre site nestled along Ashland Creek, and is a centerpiece of the community. The trail consists of a series of paths and stairways heading down the steep slope.

At the bottom of the stairway system you will see this bridge over Ashland Creek. Cross the bridge and head into the developed section of the park.

Continue and cross Winburn Way. On the other side of the street is the Butler-Perozzi Fountain, a Lithia Park landmark. Built in 1915 with donations from its namesakes, the fountain was restored in the 1980's, but is now in need of some more repairs.

Turn to the right and wander through Lithia Park.
Among other sights you'll see this beautiful stone bridge to the right, crossing over Ashland Creek.

The park continues through the trees back toward downtown Ashland, following the creek. The Meyer Memorial Lake provides a nice bit of scenery. Lithia Springs Park has been named by the American Planning Association as one of 10 great places in the U.S. for 2014.

Continue through Lithia Park until you go through its north entrance. Uphill is the main Shakespeare theater. Continue onto the "Plaza." This drinking fountain dispenses Lithia water, although perhaps you shouldn't drink it. Plans to make Ashland a Lithia water resort in the early 20th century came a cropper, and one taste of this water would tell you why.

The Plaza has a lot of interesting buildings and shops, and seems like a great place to just "hang out." The most notable structure is the I.O.O.F. building, constructed in 1879 and on the National Register of Historic Places.

Continue north on the Plaza and cross Main Street. On the other side you will be on Water Street. Walk on the left side of the street and you will find a nice little pathway along Ashland Creek, between the buildings, to stop and rest in the shade if it is a hot day. Then continue on Water Street as it goes under Lithia Way.

Turn right onto B Street. By the time you get here, this empty lot on the left side of the street will probably have some new homes. Central Ashland, like many old downtowns, is seeing this kind of "infill" residential development, because people want to live in such places and are willing to pay a premium to do so.

After one block on B Street, at the corner of B and Oak, is the Ashland Armory building, dating from 1912, and now re-purposed as an arts center and office space.

Continue on B Street. The street is lined with older historic homes and other buildings such as an old church. The Pelton House is at the corner of B and 1st Streets. It was built in 1894 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was carefully restored after a fire damaged it in 1991.

Two blocks farther along on B Street, to the right, is the Kane House. This home, a combination of Italianate and Eastlake styles, was constructed in 1886, originally for the station master of the railroad. The rail line through Ashland connected Oregon with California for the first time by rail in 1887. However the "Siskiyou" line from Eugene to Redding via Ashland was relegated to branch line status when the more level (although that's a relative term in these parts) "Cascade" line through Klamath Falls was completed by the Southern Pacific Railway in 1926. A more complete accounting of the history of the two lines can be found here.

At 4th Street turn right and head back up the hill. 4th Street dead-ends into Main Street at the site of the Ashland Fire District building. Turn right on Main Street and then cross Lithia Way and Siskiyou Blvd. to your starting point at the Ashland Public Library.