What to See in Medford - Top Sights and Attractions

Theater in Medford, Oregon. The Craterian Theater at the Collier Center for the Performing Arts is a state-of-the-art performing arts center located in Medford, Oregon.

While the theater has a seating capacity of 732, the theater will frequently hold large, national concerts, dance, and theatrical tours. The Craterian Theater facility is also used for community performances, rehearsals, classes, conferences, receptions, and more. The Theater holds many different types of performances including Broadway tours, traveling musicians, and local performances for organizations such as the Rogue Valley Symphony and the Rogue Valley Chorale.

The Craterian Theater also has two theater companies that it has adopted including Teen Musical Theater of Oregon and Next Stage Repertory Company.^[1]

Mountain in Oregon. Roxy Ann Peak, also known as Roxy Ann Butte, is a 3,576-foot-tall mountain in the Western Cascade Range at the eastern edge of Medford, Oregon. Composed of several geologic layers, the majority of the peak is of volcanic origin and dates to the early Oligocene epoch. It is primarily covered by oak savanna and open grassland on its lower slopes, and mixed coniferous forest on its upper slopes and summit, stopping short of the summit. Despite the peak's relatively small topographic prominence of 753 feet, it rises 2,200 feet above Medford and is visible from most of the Rogue Valley. The mountain is Medford's most important viewshed, open space reserve, and recreational resource.

The area was originally inhabited beginning 8,000 to 10,000 years ago by ancestral Native Americans. The Latgawa Native American tribe was present in the early 1850s when the sudden influx of non-indigenous settlers resulted in the Rogue River Wars. After the wars, the Latgawa were forced away from the region onto reservations. The peak was named in August 1853 by emigrants arriving from Missouri via the Oregon Trail. Roxy Ann Hutchinson Hughes Bowen was the (step)grandmother of the McKee-Bowen family. Her step-daughter Maryum Bowen and Maryum's husband John McKee settled on, and filed a Donation Land Claim for, 320 acres on the SW flank of the butte (today's Hillcrest Orchards and Roxy Ann Vineyards).

In 1883, the city of Medford was established to the southwest of the mountain, and became incorporated two years later. After acquiring a large amount of land from the Lions Club and the federal government between 1930 and 1933, the city created the 1,740-acre (700 ha) Prescott Park in 1937. The park protects much of the upper slopes and summit of the peak and remains largely undeveloped. The peak's southern foothills have some quickly expanding single-family residential subdivisions.^[3]

The Medford IOOF Cemetery in Medford, Oregon, also known as Medford Odd Fellows Cemetery and as Eastwood–IOOF Cemetery, was founded in 1890. The cemetery was managed by the IOOF Lodge until 1969 where maintenance was transferred to the City of Medford, where it remains today.

The cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, for its architecture, which includes Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals architecture, Art Deco architecture, and Modernistic architecture. The 19.4-acre (7.9 ha) site includes a contributing building, a contributing site, and a contributing structure.

Its NRHP nomination asserts that "the cemetery's collection of grave markers effectively represents 19th century mortuary art."

The cemetery includes a mausoleum built in 1925 and expanded in 1947. It is 100 by 60 feet (30 m × 18 m) in plan, built of reinforced concrete, and includes a chapel with a stained glass window attributed to the Povey Brothers which presents Christ newly risen with Mary Magdalene. The 1947 expansion covered the front facade, eliminating a columned portico and preserving the stained glass window. The original bronze doors were reinstalled into the new facade. US Representative Edwin Durno (1899–1976) is interred there.^[4]