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Josephine County, OR
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 Established:
Jan. 22, 1856
Population: 78,350 (2003)
Elev. at Grants Pass: 948'
Area: 1,641 sq. mi.
Average Temp.: January 39.9°, July 71.6°
Assessed Value: $4,481,076,323
Real Market Value: $6,502,753,771
Annual Precipitation: 32.31"
Economy: Tourism, recreation, forest products, electronics and
software.
Incorporated Cities: Cave Junction | Grants Pass
Points of Interest: Oregon Caves National Monument, Wolf Creek
Tavern, Sunny Valley Covered Bridge and Interpretive Center,
Hellgate Canyon-Rogue River, Grants Pass Historic District,
Growers Market, Kalmiopsis Wilderness, Rogue Community College,
Barnstormers Theater, Rogue Music Theater.
General Information: Josephine County, named for Virginia
“Josephine” Rollins, the first white woman to make this county
her home, was established in 1856 out of the western portion of
Jackson County. The county seat was originally located in Sailor
Diggings (later Waldo), but in July of 1857 was relocated to
Kerbyville, situated on the main route between the port of
Crescent City, California and the gold fields.
The discovery of rich placers at Sailor Diggings in 1852 and the
resulting gold rush brought the first settlers to this region.
Several U.S. Army forts were maintained in the county and many
engagements during the Rogue River Indian War (1855–1858) took
place within its boundaries. In 1886, the county seat was
finally relocated to Grants Pass, a new town on the railroad
that was completed through Oregon that same year. Grants Pass is
now the departure point for most Rogue River scenic waterway
guided fishing and boat trips. The Illinois River, one of the
Rogue’s tributaries, has also been designated a scenic waterway.
County Officials: Commissioners—Dwight Ellis (NP) 2008, Jim
Raffenburg (NP) 2008, Jim Riddle (NP) 2006; Dist. Atty. Stephen
D. Campbell (NP) 2008; Assess. Mike Schneyder (NP) 2008; Clerk
Georgette Brown (NP) 2008; Sheriff Dave Daniels (NP) 2006; Surv.
Peter D. Allen (NP) 2008; Treas. John Harelson (NP) 2008. |
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County History |
Josephine County is located in southwestern Oregon and was
created by the Territorial Legislature on January 22, 1856, from
the western half of Jackson County. It was the nineteenth, and
last, county created before statehood. Josephine County was
named for Josephine Rollins, the first white woman to settle in
southern Oregon.
The county is bordered on the south by California, on the north
by Douglas County, on the west by Curry County at the Coast
Range summit, and on the east by Jackson County. Josephine
County is predominantly mountainous, but has two major valleys
cut by the Rogue and Illinois Rivers.
Sailor Diggings was named the first county seat of Josephine
County in 1856. During the next year, the population center
shifted north to the Illinois Valley and to Kerbyville, a town
which had been founded earlier that year by James Kerby.
Kerbyville was chosen by the electorate as the new county seat
in 1857. In 1858 the Territorial Legislature changed its name to
Napoleon, but Kerbyville, and later, Kerby, remained the favored
usage in the county. In 1886, the county seat was relocated to
Grants Pass, a new town built along the recently completed
railroad which traversed the state.
The first county courthouse was a log cabin at Sailor Diggings,
which later came to known as Waldo. The building was purchased
for $100 from James Hendershott in 1856. In 1858 when Kerbyville
became the new county seat, the commissioners ordered the
sheriff to sell the courthouse at Sailor Diggings. Between 1858
and 1886 court records were kept in various offices and
buildings rented by the county in Kerbyville. In 1886 the county
seat was relocated to Grants Pass where courthouses were built
in 1887 and 1917.
County officers were elected in June, 1856, and included three
county commissioners, sheriff, auditor, treasurer, probate
judge, and coroner. The U.S. district court held its first
session at Sailor Diggings in 1856. Josephine County government
currently consists of three commissioners, district attorney,
assessor, clerk, sheriff, surveyor, and treasurer.
Most of the commercial activity during the territorial period
centered on gold mining and the supply of provisions to miners.
Miners had been active in the Rogue and Illinois Valleys since
1851. By the late 1850s, however, gold mining was beginning to
decline and population dwindled as well. In 1859, gold was
discovered along the Fraser River in British Columbia and an
exodus from Josephine County occurred.
Although several Indian tribes lived in the area from which
Josephine County was created, most of their members had been
moved to reservations by 1856. In late 1856 all Indians in
southwest Oregon, with the exception of a few tiny bands, were
moved to the Siletz Reservation in Polk County.
Josephine County was also the home to a large Chinese
population. Most had come to the area to work gold claims
purchased from whites no longer interested in working them. Even
though they could not own land, they had to pay a tax to mine
gold, and were relegated to inferior claims.
Population in Josephine County has steadily increased except in
the 1910s when there was a 20% decrease. In 2000 the population
of 75,726 represented a 20.87% increase from 1990. The principal
industries are lumber, tourism, and agriculture. |
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