mnronn r rn Tinman. Mrcnronn. ortcciot. TnmsmY, ,lxttAry t, inn.
ji
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Jackson County Building Road of Three Natioiis
.'
i
i
(lly V. A. Kltlrudgo, Itunlilunl
Knglnnor.)
During July tif (hla ycnr tho county
court of Jaelmon county ntilliorlmd a
preliminary nurvcy to bo Hindu ovor
thn Hlsklyou tnoiiiitnlnn liy Mr J H,
Howard. Litter In tho inoiitli tliu
county court, liy formal iictlon, re
quested tlin Hlatu Highway KiiKlncur.
Mr. II. L, llowlliy, to tnkn complete
charge of. nil work proposed to bo
iloiio under thu bond Until), On Hup.
lumber nih, tint pmiplo voted In fnvor
of IioiiiIIiik Jnrhnoii county for ir.OO..
()U0 by uti overwhelming iimjorlty
Tlilit In tlin flml Instnnrn In which an
dectlou Imtt been held for a similar
purpose under tliu terms of tliu now
law authorUlug tliu nuviirnl counties
to bond themselve for road work,
Tlin proportion which wan submitted
by tliu county court upon populir
pittltlou, wait carried hy n majority of
thrco to uuu,
TJio California Htatu lltKtiway Do
pnrtmonl him already iiimlu a survey
and coutiucted hur north and south
trunk roud up the- Hacrnmonto valley
with thn I'uclflu Highway throiiKh
Jackson county and will probnhly be
gin eotintrortlon early In tho spring.
llcKlnuing at the California-Oregon
statu Unit, our road will folow nloiit;
tin. hillside, at an elevation of about ,
.'150 feet above tint alley and con
limit's to cllmli on a (1 per cent grado
for about one mile. Then follow a
mile of nmd with Just miftlclent grado
for good draluaKU. Near tliu end of
thin stretch tif road In a spring which
rutin (lit )car around and wilt he
brour.lit Into a ronrreto trough at tliu
upper edgn of the road for thu tut
of team and nuto. Tor tho next
one and one-half mllen tho road fol
lows tho teep hillside on a 0 por
cent Krado. Tho rurvca aro all easy
and thu country open, tliim mak
ing It a safe route In nplto of tho nteup
hillside. At thu end or till Krado
wit count upon it bench which In nearly
thn lanii) elevation nit tho inutnlt at
thu pan. We trawl along till shelf
with IlKht grade and long easy
curve for two mile. I'rom this
point we are able to look southward
and sen Mt. Hhnsto and tho allcy In
California. At our left wu look
down Into the deplli of the Mil ley at
most at our feet and morn than a
thousand feet below Here and there
thn bottom of tho nlluy U dotted
with farm house surrounded bv
r.reou fluid nnd tree. Thu sparsely
wooded ilope of thn valley' floor
afford 'Kood pasturage for cattle and
snoop thu nddliiK to thu rural ccu
at our feet. I'rom Urn toiirlHi point
of vlow thU la an Ideal stretch o
road for lm ha thu two extreme of
scenery In tlow at once thu grand
our of thu rock nnd cliff Immediate
ly above and below him, and at till
feat, n quarter of a mile below. Ilei
thn valley and thu pastoral scene,
'Across thu valley may hu Keen tin
Ioiik ribbon of Kleel of the Southern j In thn laud of wondei for ho hm
Pacific railway when thu nun Is re-1 trawled In only a nhort tluiu from
fluclud from their surface an thu. the rugged mountain lop to tho boat.
wind In and out around thn hill lu'tKul alluy of apple and pear or
an effort to net to thu floor of the I chard,
valley with a eanv a uradn an not '. About n mile of pavement In tho
lhle. . 'city of Medford, thu mutropoll of
Along thin atrutch of rood wn have' Southern Oregon, will bu utilized. I
another spring of water o cold thtt I Hot ween Medford and Central
It mnkon ono' teuth hurt and In niiffl- I'olnt the road will follow the present
dent (unntltte o keep a llttlu stream ' route, but nil ahnrp cornera will bo
ruunliiK durliiK thu hottent wealhnr. i rounded off beforo tho purmanrut
Then nil nt oncu wn run up to tho' pavement I laid. Tho present inn
pann and look down Into tho beaut'-! cadnni lmo will he of big asslHtnuce.
fill Hogue river valley- over mllen of j After leaving Central I'olnt tho
wooded iiiountaliiH nnd cllffa and thu 'road ngnln approaches thn foot hllla
floor of the vnllny away be)otid with land na wo pax through tho pas over
Mt. I'ltt In thu distance
Thu rond follow the ildge for r.
abort distance when a view of both
tho valleys ouo Into Oregon and thn derful panoramic vlow, i
other Into California -inn IhiiIiIo I Farther on tho road crosses Hogu
thou It dropn over and commence to river, piusc through Gold Hill and
run down along tlju hillside toward ' thencn on down along tho i Ivor's '
the railway station of rllsklynu at.edgu to tho town of Kogun Itlvcr.
tliu north untinncn of thu long HI' It linn been tho effort of the engl
tunnel. Throughout the dlnlnncf1 ncer to bo locnto I hit Pacific HUM
from tho summit to tho foot of the j way so an not only to mnko tho moat
It 1 1 1 tho grade la between it I pur cunt I permanent road with tho leant mono.
and a C per cent most of tho way. j but also to talto ndvantago nnd show ,
Thero nro no curve with it rndliu off to thu tourist travel of tho world,
ahortor than ono hundred foci nnd 'much of tho dlverHlflod and wonder
when tho wliolo curvo In not In wight 'ful scenery of Itoguc, rlvur vnlloy.
LL.
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f'uiiklriiclloii Heme In Jim knoll J TUOAD --tF jbOCT J8XB OLD G"RAE(t SSxL)SrlKK
(hen our sharpest curve have a rnd
itln of 200 feet.
On tliu route It will hu necessary to
crons tint railroad twlcuroncu at
Dollarhldi) crossing and again at
Hteluman. In both of these rase tliu
highway will par over thn rnllwiiy
on a coueretu brldgu. At Hlcluiiinu
a novel, but nry neiiMnry, piece of
coiiBtructlon I eeu when thu road
not only fincH over thu railway hut
turn three quarters of n circle and
pnssr under Itself. This wan dune
to save thn expense of making a fill
farther down which would havo used
thousand of )ard of material.
Two mile morn of gradu nnd thn
wn count to tho floor of tho valley and
run along amid tho farm scenes
which wo looked down upon from
the summit two thousand feet above
It lends past n number of mineral
springs famous from thu earliest da)
when early nuttier used to travel
long distance to obtain thu hnalthful
effect tif tho wuter.
Thu road passes through Ashland,
a beautiful city, at thn dgo of tho
foothill of tho Slskl)gu mountains.
well pnwd and beautifully nltuattd
At tliv north rlty llmltn
avoids thn now dangerous railroad
crossing by passing under thu rail
roinl.
A half mlli' farther on thn road
toward Medford wu pas between
two hot spring which aro steaming
hot all winter long. It I expected
that a sanatorium will soon bu built
here, lest showing thu water to have
wonderful health properties.
Iletween Ashland and Mudford tho
road passe through probably
most thickly nettled part of Itngue
river valley nnd when paved with1
concrete or bltumliiou material will "
liimko travel nnd freighting vory cay!
land pleasant between cities. Thu
tourist will nurely feel himself to' bo
thn lllnckwell hill theio In quite n
stretch of road from which tho rlvor,
valley hind, and orchard form a wont
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J, S. Howard, I'loucrr Knglnecr and
Road Building
Illy J S ltowi.nl )
t'p to tSCS wl'-n .luckson countx
cAUmdud f i om a point west of tlrnnt
ramt to Stain's mountain on the east,
or about .loo mile long east and
west and about 100 mllen uverago
width north nnd kiuiIi, with this vast
territory nnd u sparse population and
a limited tux roll, about thu bent that
could be ilouo In tho way of toad
wan to survey a traverse lino so ua
to Bhow tho rond location and placo
It on the map, and tho opening up
4 mBV J '
for Head llulltliut:
J' Wtl 3WTIOM OP TWCKVOBK
ltontl HulldiT of S iillicrn Oicgon
in Pioneer Days
and Improvement of the roads wan
left to tho district road uporvsi n.
About tho host thoy could do was tc
brush out the road and put In a fjw
polo bridge nnd cuhertf.
I'udor llioro elrcunihtaucos no mat
ter how groat the skill of tho sur
veyor or englneor. thiio wan no u
portuiilty for making a practical
demonstration ot hi nbllitlen, what-
Postal Roads
Oregon wan the flint of the states
to apply for moiuy under tho terms
of tho Hourne bill, when by tho fed
eral government appropriated $ 10.
000 to $20,000 put up by .luckson
county for Improvement of rural de
livery postal londH.
Work was begun lust October un
der Major W. A. OroKsdnnds, senior
engineer of tho bureau ot highways,
1 department of agriculture. Blormy
weathur Interrupted the work, al
though good progrqys.aa made dur
1 lug thn tlnio of conttructlcn.
I Tho rock was quarried at tho
Orlfflu orcok uuarry nnd hauled by
traction ongino and tho county dump
enrtH na far as threo mllen. Wotk
will bo resumcil In Feliruary Menn
j whllo coucreto culverts nro being
j eroded by S. A. Howard, who bo
curoj tho I'outruct,
HB' Iffln JACKSON COUNTY
IrKrrlHKC r!il " '
t. Niimjft:viaiKHr w -ci&is.
lSBiJ MSI
vit-p c tf- -n i w.m ow?.x; .
V. A. Klttrcdge,
Iteslilcut Higliwuy riiglucer.
ever he might have had so far as
things earthy wcro concomed. HU
talents might as well havo been'
stored with his other treasures In
heaven.
In 1S72 when what U now Kla-
Major W. A. Crosslunds,
Senior 'gnlueer llulldlug Postal
lUtfUwnyH,
, .1
WW 63 "
math and Lake counties began to
sottlo up and tho traffic between
Ashland and Klamath Kails, became
heavy an lmpuratlvo demand for a
hotter road over tho mountains was
heard, and with small aid from tho
stnto Jackson county commissioners
ordered mo to make a survey of a
road from Abhlaml to Liukvllle, and
over such grades as tho county would
bo able to build.
In conformity with such orders 1
run tho road from a point seven
miles south of Ashland eastward
across and up Emigrant creek and
thouco a grade up and across tho
Green Spring countatu and down nnd
across Keo.no crook, and thenco on
across tho Cascade mountains to Kla
math Falls. Tho grades wore ou
about 10 per cent, wherfl tho old
road the grados wcro 30 or 40. ThU
was tho first attempt ut graded roads
In Jackson county oxcopt In ono in
stance, that of tho grade from Jack
sonville to tho Applegate side, Tno
road from Jacksonville west rua up
Illch gulch nnd Dowoll gulch and up
over tho hill, many places with a
grado ot 3D per cent. So about 1SGS
aftor prolonged arguments with the
county court, I obtained permission
to run a grndo ovor tho Jacksonville
hill, I run tho .grade liqo In loss
than n day on a 10 por cent yrudq
and tho road supervisor oportod It
out that same soason, That Is tho
present grado over tho Jacksonville
hill, h grade ot G per cent could ho
built, but In doing so no part of tho
I present road could bo used and tho
expense would bo greqt, so probablv
uo change will bo uiadu for borne
time yot.
About 187S tho old road over tho
t east bldo of- the. mountains to Cres
cent City whrt Its 30 nor, cent KMdo
. had been inifussabh? and abandoned
for several years, and with little
prospect of an outlet by railroad, tho
counties of Jackson and Josephine, In
Oregon, and Del Nor to county, In
California, employed me to lay out u
now routo to Crescent City. I com
menced nt the east foot ot tho ,Mc
Gruo mountain soven mllos wont ot
Waldo, and run up and ovor tho
coast rango ot mountains and down
to Patrick crook, thonco across Smith
rlvor and over to Crescent City, a
distance ot about SO mllos, with a
maximum grado qf C por cent. I re
duced the grado from that ot tho old
road two-thirds and t'.iortenod tho
distance 18 miles. That Is tho pro
out travolod road to Crescent City
and was said at tho tlmo It was built
to bo the best mountain road on tho
coast. Autoa have made tho trip
from Crescent City to Medford tho
present soason In sovon hours, a din
tanco ot 120 miles.
Flfty-thrco years ago I drove tuy
ox team over tho-HUklyou toll road
at tho end of my 2,000 mile drlva
from Illinois, and I found the'alnioU
! ! iini'ii i ii ! m 'I
(Conttuued on Page Four.)
,u,