Focus on the Farm – February 2022

Happy 2022! As I look back at 2021, SOHS Hanley Farm—despite Covid 19 and variants—has continued to present new, and ongoing annual events for all to enjoy. In addition to the several Hanley Farm events, there were a couple of other exciting, noteworthy events last year!

Southern Oregon Historical Society announced plans to remodel the historic JC Penny Building as a new Event Center, available for public and SOHS events and serve as a funding engine for a 5000+ square foot museum. The main floor will feature a 250+ person event facility, and the elegant staircase can provide a grand entrance, an event registration desk will facilitate conferences, and meeting rooms will be available. The Mezzanine will be available for more intimate events, while the second floor will be SOHS office and storage space, a Brides’ Room, and additional museum gallery space. The Center will continue to house the SOHS Research Library.

Fundraising is off and running due to a successful year-end match campaign! Thank you, Alan & Rebecca DeBoer/TC Chevrolet, an Anonymous Donor, and YOU for your generosity and support. Your donations rocketed the SOHS past their goal and raised over $70,000 towards the new Event Center. Thank you, each and every one of you!

On September 21, SOHS announced, in collaboration with The Medford Arts Commission, the completion of the transportation-themed mural on the north side of the JC Penny Building. Kirk Seese of Baltimore, MD, was commissioned to create the mural, and it is indeed beautiful! An accomplished Artist and Sculptor, Kirk began his business, BB Murals LLC in 2007. To see examples of his work, visit https://www.bbmurals.com. And be sure to stop by and view the mural on the side of the history center at 106 N. Central Avenue in Medford!

Windows in Time, February 2, noon-1pm: “A ‘Skyline Boulevard’ for Crater Lake: The Army Corps of Engineers and Building Rim Road, 1910-20”—Rim Road is part of a road system built more than a century ago for the then newly-established Crater Lake National Park and the subject of a historic district recently listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Steve Mark, historian and author, will share the epic tale about the perils and challenges of early road construction, when a state highway system in Oregon still lay squarely in the future. Zoom meeting details will be emailed to you when you register at https://jcls.libcal.com/event/8277758.