 History of Lily Glen Park
Park is operated and maintained by Jackson County Parks
Department.
Park leased by Jackson County Parks from U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
Original ranch bequeathed to Jackson County Parks as an equestrian park.
Historic Barn destroyed by fire September 7, 2003 of unknown causes.
Original owner of the ranch, Margaret Lindsay, was born in Scotland and
came to the United States in the late 1800s. She, and her sons, Charles
and William, homesteaded the ranch on Dead Indian Road around 1898.
Shortly after her husband died in Ashland.
She called the ranch Lily Glen because of the profusion of mountain lilies
that grew in the area.
The spot was unusually beautiful. Mountain lilies bloomed knee high to
a man on horseback under the trees and on hilly slopes filling the summer
air with a heavy, sweet fragrance. Bears and wolves roamed the glen. Deer,
coyotes and bald eagles were also inhabitant.
The Lindsay’s built a small sawmill powered by a Garr-Scott steam
engine. The mill, which continued operation into the 20th century,
provided lumber for several cabins and farm buildings, some of them still
standing at Lake of the Woods. The original 160-acre homestead gradually
expanded to 181 acres. The Lindsay’s kept 300 fine-haired Angora goats for
their mohair. They also milked Red Polled cows. The cream was carried to
Ashland a couple of times each week even over winter roads. As mud and
snow became worse on Dead Indian Road more teams of Clydesdale horses were
added.
A post office operated on the ranch between August 1909 and May 1914.
William Lindsay served as post-master. During the summers the ranch was a
stopping place for travelers coming from the Rogue River Valley to summer
at Lake of the Woods or at Fort Klamath. Joaquin Miller, noted American
poet, visited at the ranch while exploring the regions mountain ranges.
Margaret died in 1916. The ranch was divided between Charles and
William, who both married late in life. Charles lived at Lily Glen until he sold the farm to other Ashland area ranchers.
The construction of Howard Prairie Reservoir, around 1960, inundated
extensive acres of the former ranch's high mountain summer range grazing.
The original log barn was part of the Jackson County park. Built
entirely of wood the barn had a steep gable roof with vertical sugar pine
plank siding and an intricate interior truss system. The interior
consisted of three bays of stalls, a drive-through central opening and
three levels of loft for hay storage. A board and bat-ten, wood-frame
water tower stands nearby.
Over the year’s local travelers, vacationers, hikers, and outdoor
enthusiasts have used the barn. Equine clubs including the Sheriff's
Posse, Rogue Valley Dressage and Eventing Association, Arabian Horse
Association of Oregon, Trail Dust Saddle Club, Jackson County Horseman’s
Association and many more have held major events at the facility utilizing
the barn as a staging area and making use of the numerous trails and
equine eventing facilities at the park.
A quiet afternoon ride on the meadow can be a journey back through time
to the turn of the century. Lilies still bloom at Lily Glen.
|
