McKee Bridge Historical Society

06/07/2026

25 years ago - what was the #1 local issue of community concern and news coverage in the Upper Applegate Valley?

06/06/2026

Another 1987 aerial photo from the Jeffrey Max LaLande collection at Hannon Library: French Gulch, Elliott Creek, Siskiyou Crest.

06/05/2026

1987 - logging roads on Star Gulch. How does this landscape look today? From the Jeff LaLande collection at Hannon Library.

06/02/2026

We're still researching the collapse of the Bank of Jacksonville and it's impacts in Applegate Valley (it's complicated!) so in the meantime, to provoke thought and discussion: This image is in the State Library of Oregon. The Library suggests it was taken ca. 1920, BUT - Frank Hull was a "scenic artist" and landscape photographer from 1899 until late 1911 when he sold his studio and equipment to take over the Savoy Theater. He moved from Jackson County to Geyserville, CA, in 1918. Around 1900-10 would be more accurate and certainly before 1914 when the film "Grace's Visit to the Rogue Valley" captured operations at the mine.

06/01/2026

Jeffrey Max LaLande, archaeologist for the Rogue River National Forest, collected and captured many scenes in the Applegate watershed. Here is the Hunter & Best sawmill in 1951. Source: https://soda.sou.edu/

06/01/2026

The history of Mt. Ashland - wonder if there will be surprising ties to the Applegate? 🤔⛷️🏂🏔️🗻 Wednesday, June 3, noon at the Medford Library.

The Mt. Ashland Ski Area, which encompasses over 240 acres of national forestland, is situated on and near the summit of Oregon’s highest peak west of the Cascade Range. Started...

05/31/2026

Why did Applegaters use and trust the Bank of Jacksonville? They had no real choice, except "under the mattress." In 1907, the Bank opened in the Red Men’s Hall at the corner of California and S. 3rd Streets. C.C. Beekman closed his bank in 1915, leaving the Bank of Jacksonville the sole institution for the area. "Willie" Johnson, bank president and cashier, was viewed as a prominent, trustworthy citizen - not only by depositors, but by the City of Jacksonville (he was city treasurer) and the Presbyterian Church (he was deacon and treasurer here too). County Treasurer Myrtle Blakely placed over $107,000 of the public's money with Johnson. As a government official, she was supposed to secure her performance with bonds. The bonds totaled only $11,000, structured and held in a complicated structure rivaling "Too Big To Fail."

05/30/2026

Applegaters lost their life savings, and even their homes and ranches, due to the collapse of the Bank of Jacksonville in August 1920. In fact, all taxpayers were impacted - Jackson County lost $107,000. You can still make out "Rugby" on the side of the Boomtown Saloon. Who were the victims? Who were the culprits?

05/30/2026

Ager to Klamath Hot Springs Carpool Tour Update--There has been more interest shown for this tour than any we have ever had before! That is very good, but presents a potential problem--parking space along the tour route.

For this reason, we ask you all to show up before 1 pm, so that we can determine how many people will attend. We also must request that everyone bunch up in carpools, to minimize the number of cars. If there will be more cars than we can safely do together, we will break the tour up into two groups, one starting at 1 pm and the other at 1:30 p.m. If you know others that will be coming, please refer them to this update.

Everything will work out fine--we just need to be patient and flexible.

Hope to see you there--it will be a lot of fun!

P.S. If there is enough interest, we will give another tour of this area during the Autumn.