Right in front of you, you’ll spot a long building with a red-tiled roof, big windows, and green vines creeping up its brick walls-look for the old-fashioned clock tower and bright red doors.
Imagine it’s the late 1800s and dusty steam engines are rolling into what was then a brand new town-this was the spot! The very first station here, built in 1883, was just a pit stop for trains hoping to conquer Siskiyou Pass, but it didn’t stay put for long-it actually got loaded up on three huge flatcars and trundled off to Talent one summer in 1900. Who says buildings can’t travel? The Medford station kept getting upgrades until, in 1910, Southern Pacific unveiled this “modern marvel” you see before you, just two blocks north of the old one. You can almost hear the buzz of passengers eager to see the West or send off loved ones, folks bustling around and porters racing to haul heavy trunks. Eventually, by 1955, passenger trains stopped pulling in and Medford had to say goodbye to its rail travelers. But this station refused to fade away-and in 1996, history lovers made it official, securing its spot on the National Register of Historic Places. Not just any old depot, this place is a survivor with stories in every brick!
