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HISTORY New book chronicles Highway 99's history and stories that popped up along the way Comment By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Follow @@RyanPfeil MailTribune.com By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Follow @@RyanPfeil Posted Aug. 9, 2016 at 12:01 AM By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Follow @@RyanPfeil Posted Aug. 9, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Social News A story about a bright but short-lived aircraft beacon on the Siskiyou Summit is one of many found in a new history book about Highway 99. The 125-foot tower was erected in 1929 near a service station on a property leased by the Richfield Oil Co., Chuck Flood writes in "Oregon's Highway 99." It was one of 34 beacons along the West Coast, bright reference points that boasted 8 million candlepower lights with 8-foot-tall letters that spelled "RICHFIELD" on all sides. It didn't last. The company went bankrupt two years later, and the bright towers were taken down. "The towers — more of an advertising gimmick than an actual aid to aviators — were outpaced by modern developments in aerial navigation and soon disappeared," a photo caption in the book reads. Flood's stories and more than 200 vintage photos and postcards chronicle the history of the 300-mile ribbon of highway that winds through Western Oregon from the Columbia River to the Siskiyou Mountains. The book offers human interest stories that dot the route along the way. "I was trying to do a time capsule road trip," Flood says. "You start at one end and work your way to the other, to give an idea of what travel was like pre-freeway days." The book is part of a history series published by Arcadia Publishing out of Mount Pleasant, S.C., and can be ordered at Amazon and other online services. Born in 1947 in New Haven, Conn., Flood moved to Oregon in 1965. He's lived in the state on and off since then, but currently resides on Bainbridge Island, Wash. "I am a New Englander by heritage, but have long since become a westerner," Flood says. Previously, he had written "Washington's Highway 99" and "Washington Sunset Highway." His writing stemmed from his long interest in ghost towns and historic memorabilia. After his first two works, his interest turned south to a highway he was familiar with but wanted to know more about. According to the book, the Oregon Legislature created a state highway commission in 1913. Highway 99, first called the Pacific Highway, was one of the commission's first projects, a route that would wind from Portland to Ashland. "For the first years of its life after being decreed into existence, the Pacific Highway simply followed the routes of preexisting roads," the book's introduction reads. "Beginning in the 1920s, improvements in the form of realignments, bypasses, paving and new construction began to transform the patchwork of old roads into a unified highway." Early on, the route was split into an east side and a west side, known as the East Side Pacific Highway and the West Side Pacific Highway. The sections were redesignated as Highway 99E and Highway 99W in 1937. Both strands joined in Junction City, and continued south to California. It's stayed the same since then. Nearly 1,100 gas stations, hotels, motels and eateries have popped up along the route at one time or another, and with them came stories. The Interurban Auto Car started a bus service between Medford and Ashland at 40 cents for a round trip. Hotel Jackson, called the "traveler's home and haven," opened at the corner of Central Avenue and Eighth Street in 1926. It's a Rogue Community College parking lot now. Further north, an eatery called the Bar-B-Q Cafe near the junction between the highway's east and west forks was the site of a shootout. In 1955, two men burst into the establishment with guns drawn. A police officer chased them out, and their attempted getaway fizzled when their car stalled. In the ensuing shootout, one of the two men died, and the police officer was injured. "Back then, it made a bit of a sensation," Flood says. "It's out in the country. It's rural. It's not highly populated, and here we have a holdover from the old West." The highway is still used, but much of the classic feel has joined the ranks of history. "There's sort of a nostalgia for Pacific Highway," said George Kramer, a local historian who wrote "The Interstate Highway System in Oregon: A Historic Overview," for the Oregon Department of Transportation in 2004. "People kind of pine for that and seek it out a little bit." Kramer said the shift from highway to freeway could be seen plainly when it came to the Interstate 5 viaduct, which opened in 1963. Restaurant and hotel chains placed near on- and off-ramps helped hasten the draw even more. "In downtown Medford, it got pretty quiet," Kramer said. Flood says most of his research came from newspaper clippings, postcards, city business directories and historical societies. He focused on research for six months, then got to writing. "I found so much that I had not known. It was an awful lot of digging," he says. Reach reporter Ryan Pfeil at 541-776-4468 or [email protected]. Follow him at www.twitter.com/ryanpfeil . By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Follow @@RyanPfeil MailTribune.com By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Follow @@RyanPfeil Posted Aug. 9, 2016 at 12:01 AM » 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. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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