Shady Cove is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. The population was 2,904 at the 2010 census. Take a look below for 15 awesome and interesting facts about Shady Cove, Oregon, United States.
1. The city of Shady Cove was incorporated in 1973.
2. Before that, the nearby towns of Trail to the north and Eagle Point to the south were the historic population centers.
3. Etna, the town’s precursor, lay between.
4. Settlers started moving into the area, spreading out from Trail, in the 1870s.
5. In 1882, the post stopped in Etna for the first time, though the Postal Service did not establish an office in a place called Shady Cove until September 12, 1939, a Mrs. Lillian Hukill as postmistress.
6. The city’s name has no clear origin. It is possible that a man named Barnes established a town site he called “The Cove”. However, according to Barbara Hegne, a local historian, the name for Shady Cove came from a speculative operation by some Medford businessmen.
7. They bought some land for summer homes on the east side of the river and called their business the “Shady Cove Country Club”.
8. The first bridge over the Rogue River in Shady Cove was built in 1921 and washed away by the Christmas flood of 1964.
9. The already above-average rainfall for the year was followed by a historic warm-temperature storm, called a Pineapple Express.
10. According to a local resident, the bridge was knocked out by a log jam started when an old growth Douglas fir was trapped by rising waters against the steel of the bridge. The structure held for roughly seven hours as logs piled up behind it until nine in the evening on December 23, when the bridge washed away.
11. The Dodge and Touvelle bridges further downstream were both damaged, and there was no easy way to get into the town until the placement of a temporary Bailey bridge three months later. Initially, the Shady Cove School functioned as a refuge and a food distribution point.
12. The flood control dam at Lost Creek Lake was installed in 1977 to mitigate future catastrophic flooding.
13. The city of Shady Cove is governed by a mayor and a four-member council. The city employs a floodplain manager, in keeping with a 2007 FEMA decision.
14. The town is home to Jackson County Fire District number 4, staffed by three captains, four fire fighters, and approximately twelve volunteers. The fire department is equipped to provide “emergency fire and medical response, and swift water and high angle rescue services to the Shady Cove and Upper Rogue area.”
15. The department was established in 1956 and is tasked with 34 square miles of Jackson County, Oregon. The district responds to around 1,000 incidents a year.
