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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Aggressive deer encounters prompt city forum ... Wild Side: Summer vacation lessons from the heartland ... Ticket Availability ... Aggressive deer encounters prompt city forum ... Wild Side: Summer vacation lessons from the heartland ... Ticket Availability ... ASHLAND HISTORIC COMMISSION Walking tours take a trip back through time Railroad District area played key role in city's history Comment By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Jul. 13, 2015 at 6:42 PM Updated Jul 13, 2015 at 7:40 PM By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Jul. 13, 2015 at 6:42 PM Updated Jul 13, 2015 at 7:40 PM If you go --> The Ashland Historic Commission presents tours of the historic Railroad District at 10 a.m. every Friday through Aug. 28. Tours meet at the gazebo at Railroad Park on A Street near the 7th Street i... » Read more X If you go The Ashland Historic Commission presents tours of the historic Railroad District at 10 a.m. every Friday through Aug. 28. Tours meet at the gazebo at Railroad Park on A Street near the 7th Street intersection. Tours last approximately 1-½ hours. For more information, call 541-488-5305. » Social News A weekly walking tour of Ashland’s Railroad District, led by noted historian Terry Skibby, delves into the feats of explorers and wagon train settlers, as well as the personal lives of the train workers and their families — the people who built this “second downtown” late in the 19th century.  Street after street of vernacular and Queen Anne style homes daily whiz by our car windows like old wallpaper, but the tour, says Zoe Laidlaw, brings them all into fresh relief and puts people in them. “They were just part of the general feeling of the area,” she notes, “and now it’s nice to know who was here. It makes it come alive.” The tour, sponsored by the Ashland Historic Commission, starts at 10 a.m. every Friday in summer months, starting at the gazebo of the Railroad Park on A Street, where, notes Skibby, the present train tracks were once deer trails, then Indian trails — then the very spot where the first whites, members of a Hudson Bay Company exploration party, walked in 1828. It was seven years later when the next whites, a trapping party with Indian wives, strolled through. Two years after that, a cattle drive moseyed by. Life was still peaceful for the natives until the Great Migration hit Oregon in 1843. Pioneer brothers Lindsay and Jesse Applegate, after both lost sons on the dangerous Columbia River (the end of the Oregon Trail) were inspired to cut the Southern Road from Fort Hall in Idaho to this valley, passing through the future Ashland. All trekked about where the tracks or Hersey Street are, as it’s the most flat and direct path, says Skibby. Standing with the small group of history lovers at A and 8th Street, he pulls out a golden spike and notes that a spike of real gold was driven by Charles Crocker at exactly that spot at 5:04 p.m., Dec. 17, 1887, an epic moment completing the north-south rail line — and changing Ashland forever. At 5th and A Streets, Skibby points out the sturdy lines of Ashland railroad depot’s hotel kitchen, a huge building constructed in 1887 and saved from progress when it was moved across the street in the 1990s, restored to its original colors and leased for offices. Few note the benches in the Railroad Park resting upon gnarly old cement platforms that once supported big water tanks for trains. And the park’s bathroom building is an architectural duplicate of the depot’s old exhibit center. Fourth Street is a rich showcase of historic buildings: the 1900 Peerless Hotel with its iconic Coca Cola sign, painted on alley bricks; Ashland Hose Company No. 2 of 1908, which became Haskins Garage in the 1940s; and the J.K. VanSant building of 1905, now housing Hill Station at the corner of C Street. Carrying part of his exhaustive collection of historic photos, Skibby stands outside the Ashland Food Co-op, showing the giant Natatorium and Sulphur Baths that used to stand there. The structure was removed in the 1930s to become an open-air , spring-fed Twin Plunges pool. It operated into the 1970s. When it closed, its springs were capped. At the corner of B and 4th Streets, Skibby pointed out the site of Ashland’s red light district, a brothel run by Eva Pierce, long since torn down and replaced by the Zen Garden apartments. Even veteran historians, like Ruby Whalley, a Historic Commission member, are impressed by the new historic dimensions that emerge in the 90-minute walk. “I learn something every time,” says Whalley, a retired school administrator. “I’m very proud of this town and increasingly appreciative of the people who built it, all laying in the cemetery now.” When asked if would like to magically go back and live in historic Ashland, Skibby said "no, but he sure would love to go back and take some pictures" — adding that he would probably be able to greet most residents by name. John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Jul. 13, 2015 at 6:42 PM Updated Jul 13, 2015 at 7:40 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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