Grant's Pass City Hall is located at 101 NW A Street, Grants Pass, OR 97526.
Phone: 541‑450‑6000.
Neighborhoods
Grants Pass is named for General Ulysses S. Grant. A post office was established in 1865. The City of Grants Pass was incorporated in 1887 following its designation as the county seat in 1886.
Grants Pass as described in 1940 [1]
Grants Pass, the seat of Josephine County, lies at the southern end of a narrow valley on the bank of the Rogue River. With long streets bordered with tree-shaded houses diverging from the compact business district toward the enclosing hills, the city presents an aspect of modernity. The Southern Pacific bisects the town and store buildings press upon the tracks from either side. Modern structures have replaced the old false-front wooden buildings and filling stations and ice cream parlors have taken the place of the hitching racks and dim-lighted saloons of other days. However, Saturday night is still a time of unusual activity when ranchers, miners, and lumberjacks mingle with townsmen and tourists along the brightly lighted streets.
The town, which came into existence as a stopping place on the California State route, was named by enthusiastic builders of the road over the pass when a messenger told them of General Grant's capture of Vicksburg. It is the trading, banking, and shipping center of the Grants Pass Irrigation District, which produces pears, prunes, apples, grapes, and cherries, and is an active dairy region. In the environs gladiolus culture is carried on and during the blossoming months, June to August, the flower fields present a gorgeous sight. An annual gladiolus show is held during the fourth week in July.
There is considerable logging nearby and sawmills and wood-working plants are numerous. The city draws much wealth from the mines in the surrounding mountains. Gold, copper, platinum, silver and chromium are among the more important minerals. Miners still come in from the back country with their dust, which is bought by local banks. The mineral resources of the area, together with the proximity of the Oregon Caves, have drawn the attention of many citizens to the collection of minerals. Some excellent exhibits are those in the lobby of the Hotel Del Rogue, 6th and K Streets, the Caves Grotto, at the Redwood Hotel, 6th and E Streets, and the semi-precious stones collected by Eclus Pollock.
The city park on the south bank of the Rogue River provides facilities for swimming, boating, tennis and other sports. The Oregon Cavemen, a social and services club, holds annual festivities and carnivals in which members impersonate their primal forbears. The Cavemen claim the marble halls of the Oregon Caves as their ancestral home. Symbolically their food and drink consists of the meat of the dinosaur and the blood of the saber-tooth tiger. The officers of the organization are Chief Big Horn, Rising Buck, keeper of the wampum, Clubfist, Wingfeather and Flamecatcher.
The Rogue River is one of the best fishing streams in the nation. Fishing riffles are within a mile of the city, and up and down the river are more than 200 miles of fine fishing waters. In the city is the headquarters of the Siskiyou National Forest, 6th and F Streets.