"This valley has never looked so well, and prospects for rapid and steady growth have never been so bright as they are today," said A. A. Davis, president of the Medford & Crater Lake Railroad, talking to the Journal about the Rogue River section of Oregon. "Jackson County has entered upon an era of permanent improvement. Her great resources, so long dormant, are being developed."
    The city of Medford, a clean, modern town in the broad and fertile Bear Creek Valley, high up in the foothills of the Siskiyous, 1,400 feet above Portland, is one of the most beautiful and healthful places in the world. There is not an unpainted house, nor a public ash pile, in Medford.
    "Medford has gained 500 or 600 population during the last year. She is now a city of close to 3,000 people," said Mr. Davis. It is said there has not been a time in the year when less than 15 or 20 new dwellings were under construction. The houses are substantial and modern, and on none of them is paint spared. It is a town of pretty homes set in beautiful green lawns, rose gardens, and orchards, bordered and well-kept board sidewalks. The main street, running through from east to west, is ten miles long. Traversing it the visitor passes the palatial residence of E. J. DeHart, the handsome houses of H. D. Wortman, George Faucett, Major Andrus, Dr. W. E. Jones, W. E. Bradshaw, William Angle, J. W. Ling, John Smith and many others, the high school, the Southern Pacific depot, the principal hotel, the leading business houses and banks. Bear Creek, spanned by a substantial iron bridge, meanders through the city from north to south, passing close to the business center.
    The new exposition building, costing $2,000, built through the enterprise of John D. Olwell, J. W. Perkins, F. H. Hopkins, Gordon Voorhies, the Condor Water Power Company, H. C. Lewis, the Iowa Lumber & Box Company, the Jackson County Bank, the Medford Bank, W. I. Vawter and other progressive citizens, was opened with a rose show. The building stands alongside the Southern Pacific railroad track, near the depot. It is a picturesque one-story structure, with large plain glass windows, and surrounded with electric lights. The interior is arranged to receive exhibits of fruit. Eagle Point onions, vegetables, woods and minerals, the products of Jackson County. They will be arranged so that passengers on trains may see at a glance the things that are produced in the highest perfection in Southern Oregon. The building is said to be the first of its kind in the state.
    The Rogue River Valley railroad line, from Medford to Jacksonville, will add a gasoline motor car to its equipment. The car will be operated over the six miles of this road on the livery plan. A telephone will serve to call the car at all times to any point on the line, to carry individuals or parties any desired distance. A similar car will be put on the line of the Medford & Crater Lake Railroad, now being constructed from Medford to a point 25 miles towards the headwaters of Rogue River. The road is graded for a distance of five miles from Medford, and a force of 60 men is at work on construction between that place and Eagle Point, to which the road will be completed and operated by October 1. Contracts for all bridge work are closed, and the work will begin this week.
    Dr. J. F. Reddy, who recently acquired a lease of the Nash Hotel, has changed it to the European plan, and made extensive improvements. A new bank, the Medford First National, will be opened within the next 30 days. Its president is Judge W. S. Crowell, and M. Alford is the cashier. F. K. Deuel is vice-president.
    Every business house in the city is occupied, and there is not a dwelling for rent. Large additions are being made to the orchards around Medford, and many new orchards are being planted in the hills eastward to the Antelope Valley. There is activity in the agricultural and fruit industry along the line of the new railroad to and beyond Eagle Point. It is estimated that Jackson now has 20,000 acres of apple orchards, 6,000 acres of which are bearing. Many peaches and pears are also being planted. There are about 1,000 acres in prunes. Almonds are arousing much interest, and it is predicted Jackson will become a heavy producer of the nuts.
    The question of good public highways that will permit transportation of the products of farms and orchards at all seasons of the year is one of the most important confronting the people of this county. In many parts of Southern Oregon a species of adobe known as "big sticky" is encountered. It is a soil of great fertility, and is regarded as one of the best apple soils, but in wet seasons roads that traverse it are practically impassable for any kind of vehicle. The county has purchased a rock crusher, and has a force of men at work macadamizing one or two of the main roads leading out of Medford. But the equipment is far short of requirements, and many years of constant work would be required before even a few of the most traveled roads would be improved by the machinery now in operation.
Oregon Journal, Portland, May 28, 1905, page 14

    Medford enjoys a distinct advantage in being centrally located with respect to the large horticultural and farming interests of the Rogue River, or more accurately, Bear Creek Valley. It is 12 miles northwest of Ashland on the O.&C.R.R. of the Southern Pacific system. The town is situated on both banks of Bear Creek and is immediately surrounded by fine pear and apple orchards and rich farms. It enjoys an extensive trade, and is an important shipping point. There are numerous stores which carry large stocks of goods, and there are some substantially built business blocks. The town contains many attractive homes. There are extensive planing mills and lumber yards, but as elsewhere in the county, manufactures are limited, and there should be some good openings for business ventures in manufacturing in Medford. It is a growing town, with a population of about 2,500.
M. F. Eggleston, "Jackson Co. Oregon," brochure published by the Jackson County Commissioner's Court, June 1905


    Have just returned home from an afternoon's stroll over a portion of the western part of our beautiful city. I made my maiden visit to Medford's green, cool, shady city park, a sweet, pure place of cleanliness, refinement, beauty and loveliness. Show me a place among our older sister cities in Rogue River Valley, unless made by nature, that can compare in the least with the few acres that have so recently been encircled and transformed into a place of so much loveliness and beauty. I gazed about until my eyes leaked and my neck became stiff and refusing to turn on its pivot, counting the foundations of new houses to be built, those partly built and those completed in the brief space of time of two months. I became so much interested in our city's growth I just sat down and said, Medford forever. She is forcing herself to the front in every capacity. She is asserting herself in superiority and knocking the persimmon. They cannot shut Medford off. Gold and silver, fruit and stock; the captivating location of the valley, the men of brains, vigor and originality; self-reliance and she is irrepressible. All eyes are turned upon her. Millions of hopes are staked upon her resources, her sunshine, and we venture they will all be realized. The rich man comes here to grow richer, the poor man to better his circumstances, the sick come for health and strength, and those that are discouraged and disconsolate come for the cheer and comfort and to enjoy the hospitable society our city is known to offer.
Medford Mail, September 15, 1905, page 1