Document text
January 31. 2016 12:01AM Since You Asked: Phoenix rose from the ashes of Gasburg name I've often wondered about the origins of the name for the city of Phoenix. Was it named for the mythical bird, the large city in Arizona or something else? — Rob, Medford Something else, Rob, and probably not what you would have guessed. Phoenix, Ore., was named by Sylvester M. Wait in the late 1850s, according to a couple of historical sources. Before that, the settlement went by the less-noble-sounding name of Gasburg, according to the book "Oregon Geographic Names."  There are a couple of good reasons why Wait wouldn't have named the city after Phoenix, Ariz. According to his obituary, published in the Columbia Chronicle in Dayton, Wash., Wait was born in Vermont, moved to Wisconsin as a young man, spent a brief period of time in California and then settled in the Rogue Valley. No mention of any connections to Arizona. An even better reason: Phoenix, Ariz., wasn't founded until 1868, nearly a decade after Wait opened a post office in 1857 using the Phoenix name. As for getting the name from the mythological bird, known for rising from its own ashes — no, that's not it either. According to "Oregon Geographic Names," the provenance of Phoenix came from a much more pedestrian source: Wait, who owned a flour mill in the community, also was the local agent for the Phoenix Insurance Co., of Hartford, Conn. Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected]. To see a collection of columns, go to mailtribune.com/youasked. We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them. http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20160131/NEWS/160139987 © 2016 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->