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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us February 10, 2006 School’s property has been home to many families and activities for last century By Cybele Grimes and Jeanne Chouard For the Tidings The wind still blows through the willows on these acres just outside the city limits of Ashland, but this unique parcel of land has witnessed many changes. Long before Lewis and Clark explored the Pacific Northwest, the fields stood as an untamed wilderness. Salmon migrated up Bear Creek, which meanders through the back fields. Songbirds found shelter in the willow trees and deer grazed in the open meadows. Native people from the Shasta tribe probably hunted deer here and fished in the creek. Shasta women may have come here to find reeds and branches to make baskets. When the first settlers traveled up the Applegate Trail to the Rogue Valley in the 1850s, they passed not far from these fields. Then, only a few decades after the first emigrants arrived in the new settlement called “Ashland Mills,” these fields became a pioneer ranch. Historical records list Henry B. and Harriet Carter, a prominent family in Ashland’s early days, as the first owners of the property in 1884. The dusty pioneer village of Ashland was quickly evolving into a prosperous new western town and the Carters were at the center of the action. They were instrumental in establishing the very first bank in the city and building wooden sidewalks around the Plaza. Changes were happening at a quick pace in the 1880s and 1890s in the Rogue Valley. Horse and buggies bustled by the Carter farm on the new East Main Street. In the late 1880s, the railroad finally reached Ashland, running less than a quarter mile from the Carter property. It was during these busy years that the barn at Willow Wind was built. Stones for the foundation of the barn were taken from on a quarry on the southeast corner of the ranch. Wood for the barn was may have been harvested from the mountains around Ashland and milled locally. The barn features timber-frame construction, an example of 1800s building technique that creates a rustic interior. By the turn of the century, Ashland had grown to be the largest town in the Rogue Valley with over 3,000 residents. A public library was opened, public schools were established and the Chautauqua traveling lectures and entertainment came to town. In the early 1900s when the first cars puttered by on East Main Street, the barn was home to cattle and horses. Despite the developing culture, the Carters and most other residents still relied on farming for their livelihood. After World War I, the Rogue Valley was hit by hard times. Unemployment was high and the Carter farm, like many properties in the area, changed hands several times. Finally, in 1932, the Inlow family purchased the farm. They lived in the old Carter house and raised pigs and dairy cows in the barn. Dates written inside the barn verify the Inlows record of when they bred their cows, so they could keep track of gestation times. The Inlows sold fresh dairy products to local businesses. In later years, the Inlows converted the working dairy barn into a more horse-friendly shelter with a large foaling stall in the back. By the time the Inlow family left the farm in the 1970s, Southern Oregon State College was attracting baby boom students to Ashland and the seeds of an artistic community had been planted. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival was expanding and life in the rural community was changing. The Ochs family moved onto the property in 1977. The Ochs raised their children in the old farm house and established Chautauqua Ranch School on the farm, while continuing to use the farm to raise cattle and sheep. Children who attended preschool on the property were able to experience country farm life with a variety of farm animals. Horses, llamas and even rabbits were housed in the old barn from time to time. The Ochs resisted changing the rural nature of the land, choosing not to subdivide the property into five-acre portions. Sometime later, county planners rezoned the property as “Exclusive Farm Use” and the farm was placed outside the urban growth boundary of the city. The farm continues to stand as a part of the green necklace of rural lands surrounding the present-day Ashland. When the Ochs’ children were grown, the Waldorf School of the Rogue Valley was ready to expand. A Waldorf parent purchased the property in 1995 and the Waldorf School was located on the property for a few years, but eventually the property was placed for sale. The Ashland School District bought the farm in 1999. The district’s home-schooling support program, the Community Learning Center, was relocated to the farm and the property was renamed “Willow Wind.” The Willow Wind program has grown and flourished on these acres. More than 200 students attend class in the old farmhouse and other outbuildings. Families work in the vegetable garden and nourish young plants in the greenhouse. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams