Lithia Park
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Lithia Park
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Lithia Park green
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| Location | Ashland, Jackson County, Oregon |
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| Coordinates | 42°11′24.1″N 122°43′1.1″W / 42.190028°N 122.716972°WCoordinates: 42°11′24.1″N 122°43′1.1″W / 42.190028°N 122.716972°W |
| Area | 93 acres (380,000 m2) |
| Built | 1892 |
| NRHP Reference # | 82001505 |
| Added to NRHP | November 22, 1982 |
Lithia Park is the largest and most central park of Ashland, Oregon. It consists of 93 acres (380,000 m2) of forested canyonland around Ashland Creek, stretching from the downtown plaza up toward its headwaters near Mount Ashland. Its name originates from lithium oxide (Li2O) or "lithia," which is found in the stream water pumped to the park.
The park has two large greens, a bandshell for public musical performances, two duck ponds, a large playground, tennis courts, community buildings and, in winter, an ice skating rink. It also offers picnic areas and miles of hiking trails.
The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The area which now comprises the entrance to Lithia Park was the site of Abel Helman and Eber Emery's flour mill, the first building in what is now the city of Ashland—established in 1852. By the time the town (then called Ashland Mills) had grown up around the area, the old mill had become an eyesore, dirty with livestock and the mill all but abandoned.
The Chautauqua movement was very influential in Ashland, and many of the members of the Ladies Chautauqua Club formed the Women's Civic Improvement Club. Central to the focus of the club was the establishment of a park in Ashland. In 1908, after lobbying the city council, an amendment to the city charter was made establishing an elected park commission and setting aside all city-owned property bordering Ashland Creek for use as a park.
In 1907 a lithia water spring was discovered at Emigrant Creek several miles to the east. Upon analysis, the water was shown to have the second-highest concentration of (presumably beneficial) lithium in any natural spring (the highest being in the famous springs of Saratoga, New York). Bert Greer, a journalist, moved to Ashland in 1911 and purchased the Ashland Tidings newspaper. He agitated for the idea of establishing a mineral water resort at Ashland, and campaigned for a bond issue to fund mineral springs-related improvements to the park.
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