The city of Medford (population 75,180) is the county seat of Jackson County in the state of Oregon, United States. The total Medford metropolitan area population is 207,010, the 4th largest metro area in Oregon State. Medford was named after Medford, Massachusetts, the home town of David Loring, a civil engineer, who was the right-of-way agent for the California and Oregon Railroad and amongst the men charged with finding the best route for the railroad through the Rogue Valley. In 1883, Loring and S. L. Dolson, along with their group of surveyors, arrived in Rock Point, near present day Gold Hill. The neighboring community of Jacksonville wanted the railroad to pass between their town and Hanley Butte, but the decision was made to stake the railroad closer to Bear Creek, the location of the existing Medford.
The city's early economy was primarily driven by agriculture and timber products. The region produces peaches, pears and viticulture grapes. Medford company Harry and David Operations Corp. is the biggest direct marketer of food gifts and fruits within the nation and the biggest employer within the southern part of Oregon. The company employs around 1,700 people with an additional 6,700 staff hired seasonally within the Medford region. Harry and David Operations Corp. is a local business founded during 1910.
Approximately 460,000 individuals residing within Southern Oregon and Northern California look to the city of Medford as their economic center. Retail sales within the Greater Medford Area in the year 2008 totaled $7.5 billion dollars. Because there are no towns of equal or larger size in hundreds of kilometers, lots of area residents come to the city of Medford for their medical needs, making health care a major local industry. Rogue Valley Medical Center and Providence Medford Medical Center employ more than 2,000 people. A lot of area inhabitants prefer the city of Medford for their retirement, making assisted living and senior services a growing part of the economy.
The city of Medford has a lot of large companies operating in its borders, like for example Benchmark Maps: the makers of detailed atlases and maps; a film production company, Pacific International Enterprises; and a personal computer manufacturing company known as Falcon Northwest. Medford is the location of the head office of Lithia Motors, one of the largest auto retailers within the country.