Document text
Photo by Jim Craven Ashland parks carpenter John Orr measures the space for a roof over the porch of Lithia Park's last remaining cabin from a 1916 auto camp. A bit of history revs up again Ashland restores old auto-camp cabin By DANI DODGE ASHLAND -- Eighty-three years ago, Ashland made its first foray into attracting tourists to this quaint town with a radical idea: the nation's first free auto camp. Photo from Terry Skibby collection Some of the auto camp cabins as they looked in the 1940s. The one on the right is the one being restored by Ashland Parks and Recreation for a historical display. Auto camping was all the rage in the 1910s and 1920s. It was considered an adventure of the well-to-do. People would motor along during the day and pull off the road at night -- sometimes into a farmer's field. They would warm their can of beans on the car motor and camp under the stars. Ashland's auto camp gave travelers a place to pull over with rest rooms and showers, where they wouldn't be run off by angry farmers. Today, the Ashland Parks and Recreation Department, in conjunction with the Southern Oregon Historical Society, is reviving one 200-square-foot piece of that history. A cabin used as years for storage for city Christmas decorations and misused by vandals is now being restored to its original state as a tourist accommodation -- but no one will be sleeping on the bed. It will be a historical display only. "That is the last remaining evidence of the very, very first free auto camp in the nation," said Margaret Watson of the historical society. "It's got true national significance. "It's part and parcel of Ashland's history and their first attempt to attract tourists." A small, unassuming brown building, the cabin is next to the Parks and Recreation headquarters in Lithia Park. It's all that's left of 16 cabins and a store that were built after the auto park was created in 1916. Most of the cabins were knocked down long ago when the auto camp was dismantled in the late 1950s. Other structures that were part of the auto camp have been converted to park structures. The city received a $2,500 grant from the historical society for the restoration, said Parks Director Ken Mickelsen. A sign or plaque will be placed outside the cabin to tell visitors of its history. Since coming to the city in 1979, Mickelsen said he's worked to preserve the cabin with the thought of restoring it one day. "We just think it's a real special part of the history of Lithia Park," he said. Thursday, parks carpenter John Orr was measuring the roofline of the cabin so he could re-create a decorative eve above the door. The original refrigerator that sits on four legs is still in the cabin. The hospital-green walls are patched white where vandals had punched holes. A window is boarded up that had been broken years ago. Parks workers will repair the torn-up linoleum on the floor and repaint the walls to their original colors, said Parks Superintendent Steve Gies. Historical society staff members will search for furniture from the era to complete the look. "Basically, we are trying to clean it up and put it back together," he said. "People will be able to look in the windows." The restoration job has special meaning for some in the community. One man -- who declined to be named -- was told by his parents he was conceived in the auto camp. Ashland resident Bob O'Hara stayed there when his folks first moved to Ashland 71 years ago. He doesn't remember much about the experience, though; he was only 2. "I think it was an integral part of Ashland at that point in time," O'Hara said. "I think people at that time may have come to partake of the waters, and for summer vacations and it was great to have it up there." Historic preservationist George Kramer said Ashland officials built the auto camp in an attempt to lure the thousands of people traveling on Pacific Highway to stay in town a few extra days. A big lighted sign was erected on the plaza directing travelers into the camp. "There were manicured yards, lawns and pathways," he said. "They played badminton. The idea was you could come to Ashland and stay for free." But eventually, hotel owners complained about the unfair competition, and city leaders decided to lease the auto camp to a private party. Money stopped flowing into improvements and the place deteriorated. "Eventually, it was low-rent enough that they canceled the lease," Kramer said. "I think it's cool they are rehabilitating it. It's part of our history with the auto." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA