It is Ordered that the Clerk cause bids to be advertised for as follows.
    For the Gravelling [of] Eighty Rods of the Public Road leading from Jacksonville to Medford, beginning where Said road enters the lands of John R. Tice on the west boundary thereof, the graveling to be placed in the Center of the road and the road to be built as follows--A ridge of Earth 10 inches high to be plowed on each Side of the proposed graveling having Twelve feet Space from ridge to ridge and having a gutter on the out side of each ridge--the twelve feet Space between Said Ridges is to be filled with coarse Gravel taken from the Thomas field adjoining Said road to the full height of the ridges and the road to be Crowning in the Center, the whole work to be done to the satisfaction of the County Court, and upon acceptance by Said County the Contract price to be paid in County Warrants to be let at Decr. Term 1885 of Said County.
Jackson County Commissioners' Journals, November 6, 1885


    Freight for Jacksonville is hauled from Central Point now, the road being better than that leading to Medford.
"Brevities," Ashland Tidings, January 22, 1886, page 3

    The county press is engaged in the greatest work of the century today, in the effort to better the condition of our highways. It is a work in which we can well expend our best energies, for the inconceivable loss attending the dragging of the products of the agricultural and horticultural districts to market over the wretched roads with which America has been cursed from time immemorial has been more detrimental to the interests of the general public than all other taxes combined. It is difficult to form any adequate idea of the absolute loss arising from this cause alone. It cannot be better illustrated anywhere than right here in our own valley and surrounding mountains, where the roads are passable for comparatively light loads in the summer season, while in winter the embargo of mud is almost absolutely prohibitive. If one can conceive of a system of turnpikes and highways ramifying southern Oregon as they do France and portions of England, smooth roads of even grade, adapted for the hauling of the heaviest loads in winter as well as the summer season, then one can have something on which to base an estimate of their value to our remoter foothill ranches, whose cultivators now have to hibernate for three months or more, and even in summer have to drag their half-laden wagons with wearied and dispirited teams over rough and ill-graded roads to market. Nowhere else but here could there be the same discrimination between foothill and valley lands, the latter, if contiguous to a railroad station, commanding ten times the price of better lands lying ten miles away in the foothills, simply because the burden of impassable roads makes the latter lands unprofitable for aught but stockraising purposes. And yet all about us we have the materials of which the very best of highways could be cheaply constructed, and we boast of our enterprise and ability to keep pace with the world in everything else. Why should we lag so deplorably behind in so simple and important a matter as our country highways? If our roads were like those of some other countries, a single team could haul to the railroad without injury two tons of fresh fruit in a day from ranches twenty miles distant, and these distant foothill ranches would then be of the most valuable property we have, their very remoteness being their recommendation, for all will admit that there if anywhere could insect pests be controlled and eradicated. They are our true fruit lands, and fruit growing in the very nature of things must be our main dependence in southern Oregon in the future. It is devoutly to be wished that the educating influences of a united effort to secure better roads will be felt during the next twelve months to the remotest part of the state and result in giving us, first, a sensible system of road laws, and second, a system of county roads that shall have no superior anywhere. Herein lies our chief hope in salvation, far outreaching in importance the most complete railway system that can be inaugurated here. We trust the press of Oregon will never cease importuning the people to get out of the mud.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, November 27, 1891, page 3




    "Oak wood, split for cook stoves, was sold for $1.25 a tier, delivered in Medford. And the roads over which it was delivered were hub deep in mud from November 1 to April 1. Those were the good old days."
"Newbury Recalls Days of Flour Sack B.V.D.'s," undated 1930s Medford Mail Tribune clipping, RVGS


    Residents to the eastward of Central Point are beginning to clamor for better roads than we enjoy at present leading into this place from that direction. Central Point is blessed with good roads in the winter season, except from one direction, and the road up the valley, which cannot be easily remedied, but all realize that the one thing needful in the matter of bettering the road to the desert is to have it thrown up in the center and well drained, as there is but a small extent of the adobe on the entire stretch. The work to be effective should be done in the spring and allowed to pack by the summer travel, and we hope the proper authorities will see to it that another season does not go by and see the work neglected.
"Central Point Pointers," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, January 13, 1893, page 3


    Roads are in an awful fix from here to Medford; the nearer Medford you get the worse the roads. The road is the reflex manifestation of the civilization of a community: Therefore, etc. etc. We believe that every man in Medford and Central Point should be hung for the sin of omission. If you pull through that lane alongside of Olwell's orchard and then go and look at the windrows of good gravel along Bear Creek you will see what is omitted. Why Brother Nickell did not rush a bill through the legislature declaring this particular road a nuisance is amazing. A great opportunity for fame, and an "ad" in the Times, was hereby foolishly thrown away.
"Spikenard Sparks," Medford Mail, March 24, 1893, page 1


    We noticed that the road supervisor was grading the Olwell lane. A good thing, as that is the worst piece of road in Jackson County in the winter.
"Central Point Items," Medford Mail, September 22, 1893 supplement, page 1


    The party of young folks who went from here to attend the ball at Eagle Point on Thanksgiving night got lost on the desert, and after wandering around for some time finally brought up at Jack Montgomery's place and hired Jack to act as pilot. They had not proceeded far, however, until Jack discovered that he was lost also, and after roaming the desert for nearly four hours finally reached their destination at twelve o'clock. This is a good joke on Jack, who is supposed to know the desert like a book.
"Phoenix Flashes," Medford Mail, December 15, 1893, page 2


    Mr. Yancy has some trouble hauling the flour to the railroad, now that the roads are so bad. He started with a load last Friday and got out on the big desert when he pulled his team out of the road on apparently better ground, but it proved to be worse, as the wagon sank until both the axles were flat on the ground. Had to unload and then had lots of trouble to get out. The best way is to keep in the well-traveled road if it is muddy--and right here is a good place to say that if we could get to Medford in wintertime the town would be much benefited by our trade.
"Eagle Point Eaglets," Medford Mail, January 19, 1894, page 2
    Our roads are simply impassable, none but the most daring dare to pass over them, and those who do make the attempt are not wise if they do not have their lives heavily insured before making the perilous attempt. Where is the money appropriations of two years ago, said to be appropriated for the purpose of renovating our dilapidated roads? Will some wise man rise and explain?
"Lake Creek Creeklets," Medford Mail, February 16, 1894, page 2


    Several persons from this precinct have been compelled to do their trading at Gold Hill this winter on account of the bad roads between the bridge and Medford. There is talk that unless the roads are made passable there will be an effort made to form a farmer's union and establish a store and headquarters at some convenient point and furnish goods of all kinds to stockholders and others and handle all stock and produce raised by interested parties and thereby avoid a trip, over bad roads, to Medford.
"Table Rock Items," Medford Mail, February 23, 1894, page 2


    J. A. Whitman is loading a carload of apples at Phoenix this week to be shipped to New Orleans. Mr. W. could have loaded this fruit from his own warehouse in Medford had it not been for the very bad roads which prevent farmers from hauling to this place. This is another tip to business men of Medford. They MUST see to it that the roads leading to our city are improved.
"All the Local News," Medford Mail, February 23, 1894, page 3


    A farmer recently plodding his way through the mud and mire found Mr. Whetstone with a load of wood vainly trying to find the bottom of the road, but in his endeavor found it as hopeless a task as getting at the bottom of the Bloomer case. However, with the assistance of the aforesaid farmer he succeeded in getting his load out.
"Griffin Creek Gatherings," Medford Mail, February 23, 1894, page 4


    The streets of Medford presented an appearance last Saturday very much likened unto old times. The streets were crowded with farmers and farm teams. It was a gloriously fine day, and everyone seemed bent upon doing all the business possible within a given time. The farmers have been kept pretty quiet for the past few weeks owing to the very bad condition of the roads, and 'tis little wonder they congregate at the Hub when an occasion offers. Our people treat 'em right when they come, and the natural result is that they come again and bring their neighbors. Fair and honorable treatment extended to people who come within our borders is the promoter of such interests as grow cities from small hamlets.
     Rev. A. C. Howlett.--"Roads, well, there would be roads if one could find the bottom, but they are better than they were a few weeks ago. There could be a road made which would greatly improve matters for us Eagle Point people, and by opening it up we would be relieved of the necessity of wallowing through several miles of sticky every time we came to your city. If a road could be opened from a point near the corner of Mr. Hogle's place to run in a southerly direction through the Hamrick place, then across the Ish pasture field and intersect the main Eagle Point road near S. Murray's place, the sticky land would be left entirely out, and we would have fairly good traveling through the entire year. There are two and a half miles of sticky that is positively impassable in the wet season. There are a great many people who want to trade in your city but who cannot because of this piece of road."
"All the Local News," Medford Mail, March 2, 1894, page 3

    A careful study of the roads of Jackson County will convince the most skeptical that the system of construction is fundamentally wrong and the necessary repair work is almost wholly lacking. Road building, as practiced by the present county court, consists in dumping a pile of rock in the center of the roadway, scooping out the earth on either side and piling it in the center. When the embankment, which resembles a railroad grade and has been facetiously termed "Dunn's elevated," reaches a height of from four to six feet above the surrounding country, loose rocks and gravel is dumped on top and the road is complete. It is left to travel to wear a smooth surface, with the help of the weather. Nothing is done to keep it in condition thereafter.
    Miles of such road traverse Jackson County. The "elevated' is too narrow to admit of two teams passing. It has no uniform surface and no established grade. It is uneven, full of chuckholes, ruts and hogbacks. The crushed rock surface, the hardest possible on a horse's hoofs and equally hard on automobile tires, is left for these same hoofs and tires to grind to powder and pulverize to smoothness; as a result, there are miles of road practically untraveled except when the rains have made the adjoining land untravelable. When there is any chance of getting off the "elevated," everybody does so.
    There is no necessity for making the embankment so high. A roadbed half as high and twice as wide would be far more practicable. If a uniform grade was established, a smooth surface put on and a small amount of work done once in a while to keep the road in order, it would revolutionize the roadways of this county.
    There is one piece of roadbed of which Judge Dunn is proud, and of which he has boasted. This is the road constructed last season in the Big Sticky section. This road, like all the others, is an elevated. But farmers, rather than travel its crushed rock bed, run the risk of turning turtle on the sticky land adjoining. One can travel a mile without reaching a place where two teams can pass. If a loaded wagon is ahead of your buggy or auto, you must poke along behind it, for you cannot pass it or turn out of the elevated without toppling over.
    This roadbed is new, yet there are ruts and chuckholes already making their appearance, even before a smooth surface has been worn. There are hogbacks and hollows where there ought to be a level grade. And those who live along it say that the structure is faulty, and as the roadbed settles, it will spread. It is one of the hardest roadbeds on horse and auto and even wagon that the county possesses.
    Take a 20-mile drive from Medford. Start for Jacksonville over the most traveled road in the county. When you strike the "elevated" you strike as rough a highway as any section can show. Here we have an old road "Dunnized." In stretches, several hundred yards in length, two feet of loose gravel and crushed rock has been dumped in the center of the narrow bed, waiting for travel to pound it into shape, six feet higher than the fields adjoining. It is almost impossible and no effort is made to even rake the large cobblestones out of the way. The result of the "improvement" makes a far rougher road than existed before. The unrepaired road is smoother, but full of troubles. So rough is the highway that many Jacksonville people prefer to take the roundabout way of driving over an ungraded road to the south, traveling nearly twice as far to reach Medford.
    On the west side of the valley, turn toward Central Point. Here is a road almost wholly neglected. Here and there we strike a bridge or a culvert. These are almost invariably higher than the roadbed, so that a bump on either side is assured. Now and then a stretch of "elevated" is reached and unused, so that going around is far easier travel. A stretch of road that two years ago was one of the best in the county has become bad through neglect.
    Passing through Central Point, over as rough a strip of road as any section can show, the Bear Creek bridge is reached. On each approach is a small weathered unpainted board with a legend scratched upon it, to the following effect: "Warning. This bridge is unsafe for travel." The sign is a small one and would not be noticed by the ordinary traveler. Attorneys assert that it is not sufficient warning to save the county from damage suits in case of disaster.
    Looking at the bridge, the reason for the warning is apparent. The two large piers that support the bridge at the east end are out of plumb. The floods of a year ago undermined the piers at their foundation, and they lean a foot or so from the perpendicular. The result is that the bridge is unsafe, and has been for over a year. If a freshet had occurred this winter, it would have carried off the structure. A comparatively small amount of money would save the bridge, yet the money is not spent, and nothing has been done in over a year to save the taxpayers from building a new structure after the first flood at a large expenditure. Any loaded team may send the structure crashing, and the taxpayers will be called on for heavy damages.
    Proceeding east toward Eagle Point, some long stretches of rough-surfaced "elevated" are encountered. Just before the "desert" is reached is a stretch paved with loose cobblestones the size of a man's head. The stones are scattered all along the surface. A little work would render it possible to go faster than a walk, but the work is not done. Every bridge encountered is built up even beyond the grade of the elevated and steep pitches mark the approaches.
    Leaving the main road and swinging across the desert, the only smooth highway so far seen is encountered. The county court has done no work on it. Then the prize Big Sticky turnpike, six feet wide on top and six feet high, with crushed rock for a surface, embodying all the latest ideas of Judge Dunn, is reached, and passing orchards heavily laden with bloom, whose scent perfumes the air, the return to Medford over a road full of chuckholes and bumps and yet preferable to the "Dunnized" roads.
    Go to Phoenix and look at the work done by the county court to fix up the roads. In fact, go anywhere and draw your own conclusion.
    In the back country district the feeling is intense. Though taxes are paid regularly for roads, the money is not spent in these districts. No work at all has been done for years in many sections. Farmers at their own expense have in many cases made the roads passable only by their own work.
     The roadwork is done by the day by the county and the teams loaf a good deal, so that more money is spent than if the work was contracted. It is reported that the team owner has given his workmen positive orders not to overwork the teams as they must be kept in condition for the entire year's work.
Medford Tribune, April 14, 1908, page 1    Transcribed from barely legible microfilm.



    The adobe or "sticky" soil, as it is commonly called, found in several sections of the West, while very rich and well-suited to the growing of apples, pears and other fruits, is very difficult to handle and must be plowed at just the right time--a few days following a rain, when the "slacking" has advanced to the proper stage--to secure results that are at all satisfactory. Rather oddly, though, while continued hot and dry weather tends to form a hard crust a few inches beneath the surface, there seems to be no other soil which retains its subsoil moisture more completely or on which fruit trees will stand more protracted drought. When one buys a "sticky" ranch he should have in mind that it will either be necessary for him to have a solid macadam road leading to his place, if he is to reach it during the wet season, or to lay in a sufficient stock of supplies and provisions so that he will not have to leave his place for two or three months at a time.
Frank E. Trigg, Central Point, "Farm, Orchard and Garden,"  Evening Independent, Massillon, Ohio, March 28, 1910, page 8


    Many a municipality has a bad blot on its reputation because of the wretched condition of the thoroughfares leading thereto when timely work done with a road grader and drag would greatly improve their condition. In too many cases these same "rocky" roads are found in townships and towns whose road supervisors or street commissioners are drawing good salaries for taking care of the highways, while the equipment for keeping them in order is acquiring a coat of rust in some vacant lot or alley.
Frank E. Trigg, Central Point, "Farm, Orchard and Garden,"  Evening Independent, Massillon, Ohio, April 22, 1910, page 11


    Speaking of good roads, the work done by the road scraper between Phoenix and Talent has almost blocked automobiles completely. The boulders are simply piled up in the middle of the road all the way.
"Eden Precinct Items," Medford Mail Tribune, June 21, 1910, page 3


    There is no sort of public work in which folks are interested generally where the principle of cooperation could be followed to better advantage than in the care of the public highways. In some sections this fact seems to be recognized, in some others not. Especially is there need of this cooperation in those sections where earth roads are the rule and where the character of the soil is such that there is need of working it at a critical time following heavy rains or wet seasons. Particularly is this true of stiff clay or adobe soils, which can be advantageously worked and leveled only when they possess the proper amount of moisture and the right consistency. Under such conditions it is impossible for one road superintendent and his helpers to give all the road of their territory treatment at the proper time. As a result many such highways dry up rough and hard and remain in this condition for months. Could a system have been followed which would have enlisted the aid of property owners or renters along the highways, and the roads have been dragged at the proper time, a good highway would have been secured. The benefit of this cooperative system is recognized in some states, the road tax being remitted in case property owners give a stipulated amount of aid in keeping in condition the roads abutting their own premises. This plan gives excellent results and should be adopted in other places where the roads at certain seasons of the year are little short of unspeakable, yet for the attempt to keep which in repair large sums are expended annually, but to little purpose.
Frank E. Trigg, Central Point, "Farm, Orchard and Garden,"  Vindicator and Republican, Estherville, Iowa, June 29, 1910, page 6





    The county court is having the road between this city and Medford repaired by filling up the holes worn in the macadam and then surfacing with crude oil. The present effect is a great improvement, but whether it will last or not is questioned by many, and this road will be watched with interest.
"Local News," Jacksonville Post, August 16, 1913, page 3