Josephine County Historical Society

In 1948 a group of citizens concerned with keeping the history of the Applegate Trail and the Rogue Valley alive founded the Josephine County Historical Society. Interest in establishing a Josephine County Historical Society was renewed in 1959, Oregon's Centennial year. Then on August 15, 1960 in the historic Masonic Hall in Kerby the first annual meeting was held.

In May of 1960, the Josephine County Historical Society became a non-profit organization to collect, preserve, exhibit, and interpret local history. The Society moved it's library collection in 1972 from Kerbyville to a temporary space in Grants Pass until 1982 when the house gifted by Anna and Flora Schmidt became the society's headquarters, research library, and house museum. In 1997, the Research Library was settled into a relocated house donated by the Ken Roberts Company and renovated with generous help from the community. Both facilities are situated on Southwest 5th Street; the House Museum is on the corner of 5th and "J" Streets and the Research Library is next door on the corner of 5th and "K" Streets, a few short blocks from the "G" Street Historical District.

Josephine County: The Golden Beginnings
Coming soon

Early history about the towns that make up Josephine County

Web Space donated by
Hasting Computer Consulting, Mark Hasting