Document text
History and attractions The first settler to the area now known as Phoenix was Sam Colver, who built the "block house" in 1855. This house was to serve as an inn and general store, but when Colver's wife refused to have their house become an inn, it became a social center for the area. During that time, skirmishes with the Rogue Valley Indians had families within a six-mile radius congregating at the Colver house for safety. This, despite the fact that the house was still under construction. The families gathered around a campfire at night until bedtime, and it was there that the name of the town was born. Though it's not the name that one might think. One night in 1855, a group of young men who were being entertained by 20-year-old Kate Clayton, the only unmarried female around the nightly fires, decided to name the town after her. Then and there the town was called Gasburg after the lively young lady who had a knack for talking continuously. The town kept the name for about 20 years, until the mail route between Portland and Sacramento came to Gasburg. Near the turn of the century, a small post office was built and S.M. Waite was dubbed postmaster. Waite used his fire insurance plate "Phoenix" as the name of the post office. However, that did not serve as the name of the town for another decade, when the City of Phoenix was incorporated in 1911. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing RELATED LINKS REAL ESTATE COMMUNITY PROFILES COMMUNITY LINKS LOCAL NEWS Please support our SPONSORS Asante Health System Ashland Community Hospital Ashland Community Store Ashland Homes Ashland Racquet Club and Fitness Center BiMart Energy Outfitters Gateway Real Estate Greanleaf Restaurant HotSpring Portable Spas John L. Scott Klamath First Lithia Realty - Martino's/Macaroni's Ristorante Patricia Sprague Real Estate Sara Walker Real Estate Associate St. Mary's School Tudor Guild Gift Shop Windemere Van Vleet and Assoc. Welcome | History and attractions | Government | Parks | Welcome | History and attractions | Government | Parks