Grants Pass, Oregon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Grants Pass, Oregon
City
City of Grants Pass, Oregon
Motto(s):  Live Rogue; It's the Climate!
Location in Josephine County and the state of Oregon
Grants Pass, Oregon Location in the United States
Country	United States
State	Oregon
County	Josephine
Incorporated	1887
Area
• Total	11.68 sq mi (30.25 km2)
• Land	11.52 sq mi (29.83 km2)
• Water	0.16 sq mi (0.42 km2)
Elevation	960 ft (290 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	39,189
• Density	3,355.2/sq mi (1,295.50/km2)
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (Pacific)
ZIP codes	97526, 97527, 97528, 97543
Area codes	541 and 458
FIPS code	41-30550
GNIS feature ID	1142947

Grants Pass is the county seat of Josephine County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on Interstate 5, northwest of Medford, along the Rogue River. The population was 39,189 at the 2020 census.

History

Early Hudson's Bay Company hunters and trappers, following the Siskiyou Trail, passed through the site beginning in the 1820s. In the late 1840s, settlers (mostly American) following the Applegate Trail began traveling through the area on their way to the Willamette Valley. The city states that the name was selected to honor General Ulysses S. Grant's success at Vicksburg. Grants Pass post office was established on March 22, 1865. The city of Grants Pass was incorporated in 1887.

The Oregon-Utah Sugar Company (financed by Charles W. Nibley) was created, leading to a sugar beet factory being built in Grants Pass in 1916. Before the factory opened, Oregon-Utah Sugar was merged into the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company. Due to labor shortages and low acreage planted in sugar beets, the processing machinery was moved to Toppenish, Washington in 1918 or 1919.

Geography

Grants Pass is located in the Rogue Valley; the Rogue River runs through the city. U.S. Route 199 passes through the city, and joins Interstate 5.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.03 square miles (28.57 km²), of which, 10.87 square miles (28.15 km²) is land and 0.16 square miles (0.41 km²) is water.

Climate

Welcome sign in Grants Pass

True to its motto, “It’s the climate!”, Grants Pass has a Zone 7 climate. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Grants Pass has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa).

Summer days are sunny, dry and hot but it cools down dramatically at night; the average August high temperature is 88.8 °F or 31.6 °C but the low is only 53.7 °F or 12.1 °C. Winters are cool and fairly rainy with only occasional snow; the average January high temperature is 46.6 °F or 8.1 °C and the low, 35.1 °F or 1.7 °C. Grants Pass receives roughly 31 inches or 790 millimetres precipitation per year, with three-quarters of it occurring between November 1 and March 31. The mild winters and dry summers support a native vegetation structure quite different from the rest of Oregon, dominated by madrone, deciduous and evergreen oak, manzanita, pine, bush chinquapin, and other species that are far less abundant further north.

The record high temperature of 114 °F or 45.6 °C was on July 23, 1928. The record low temperature of −1 °F (−18.3 °C) was on December 9, 1972 until 1990 when it reached −3 °F (−19.4 °C). There are an average of 51.3 afternoons annually with highs of 90 °F or 32.2 °C or higher, eight afternoons reaching at least 100 °F or 37.8 °C and 77.5 mornings annually with lows of 32 °F or 0 °C or lower.

Measurable precipitation falls on an average of 110 days annually. The wettest “rain year” was from July 1955 to June 1956 with 50.69 inches (1,287.5 mm) of precipitation, and the driest from July 1923 to June 1924 with 13.43 inches (341.1 mm). The most precipitation in one month was 20.63 inches (524.0 mm) in December 1996, and the most precipitation in one day 5.27 inches (133.9 mm) on October 29, 1950 – this was part of a two-day fall of 9.38 inches (238.3 mm) and ended a five-day fall of 11.26 inches or 286.0 millimetres. There is an average of only 4.6 inches or 0.12 metres of snow annually. The most snowfall in one month was 34.1 inches (0.87 m) in February 1917.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 34,533 people, 14,313 households, and 8,700 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,176.9 inhabitants per square mile (1,226.6/km²). There were 15,561 housing units at an average density of 1,431.6 per square mile (552.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.9% White, 1.2% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 0.5% African American, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 2.3% from other races, and 3.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.5% of the population.

There were 14,313 households, of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.3% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 39.2% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.94.

The median age in the city was 39.3 years. 24.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.6% were from 25 to 44; 25% were from 45 to 64; and 18.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.3% male and 52.7% female.

Arts and culture

Caveman statue next to the visitor center

Jetboat on the Rogue River at Grants Pass

Annual cultural events

Boatnik, a speedboat race and carnival event, is held every Memorial Day weekend in Riverside Park.

Museums and other points of interest

The historic Rogue Theatre downtown has been transformed into a performing arts venue that hosts mostly local acts. The Grants Pass Towne Center Association's "Back to the '50s" Celebration includes free concerts, a nearly 600-vehicle Classic Car Cruise, Poker Runs, and thematic shopping in the town's downtown historic district.

Year round, there are First Friday Art Nights. On the first Friday of every month, many of the city's downtown stores hold art shows and promotional events.

The Grants Pass post office contains two tempera murals done through the U.S. Treasury Department Section on Fine Arts (often mistakenly referred to as the "WPA"), both painted in 1938. There are ten government-sponsored New Deal era murals in Oregon; Grants Pass is the only post office that contains two. The murals are "Rogue River Indians" by Louis DeMott Bunce (who also did a 1959 mural at Portland International Airport) and "Early and Contemporary Industries" by Eric Lamade.

Parks and recreation

Grants Pass has numerous and diverse parks and green spaces. Notable city-run parks include Riverside Park, summer home to the local Concerts in the Park series, and the Reinhart Volunteer Park, a park largely built through the efforts of community volunteers and featuring facilities for many sports.

Transportation

Road

• Interstate 5
• U.S. Route 199
• Oregon Route 99
• Oregon Route 238

Bus

• Greyhound Lines

Rail

• Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad

Air

• Rogue Valley International–Medford Airport
• Grants Pass Airport

Sister city

• Rubtsovsk, Russia [1]

Economy

The lumber industry was the major employer for Grants Pass up until the early 1970s. At that point the entire region started to see a steady decline in all lumber harvesting, production, and processing. Since then there has been a shift to a large service industry sector covering areas of outdoors/sports/recreation and health care infrastructure.

Notable businesses

Grants Pass is the birthplace of Dutch Bros. Coffee, which began with a single small pushcart on the corner of 6th and G Streets, where the downtown stand is now located. Brothers Travis and Dane Boersma started the franchise in 1992 and it quickly spread throughout the region.

Fire Mountain Gems has been operating in Josephine county since 1986 and moved to Grants Pass in 2000. They are a well-known direct marketing company, providing jewelry-making supplies to designer-artists around the world.

Education

Grants Pass area public schools are served by Grants Pass School District, including Grants Pass High School, and Three Rivers School District, including Illinois Valley High School, North Valley High School, and Hidden Valley High School. Rogue Community College's (RCC) main (Redwood Campus) is located south of Grants Pass on Redwood Highway with additional campuses located in Medford, Oregon (Riverside Campus) and White City (Table Rock Campus).

Notable people

• David Anders, actor
• Catherine Anderson, writer of historical and contemporary romance novels
• Agnes Baker Pilgrim, chairperson, International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
• Carl Barks, writer and artist
• Ty Burrell, actor
• Terry Carr, science fiction fan, author, editor, and writing instructor
• Kit Culkin, actor
• Michael Curry, puppet designer
• Brandon Drury, baseball player with the New York Mets
• David Goines, artist, writer
• Helen Chenoweth-Hage, U.S. Representative from Idaho
• Kevin Hagen, actor
• Jack Lee Harelson, archaeological looter
• Debbie Lawler, stunt performer
• Charles Levin, actor
• Jim McDonald, baseball player
• Gary McFarland, composer, arranger, vibraphonist and vocalist
• Merrill McPeak, former Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force
• Russell Myers, cartoonist, creator of the comic strip Broom-Hilda
• Hub Pernoll, baseball player
• Michael Saucedo, actor, musician
• Josh Saunders, soccer player (goalkeeper)
• Cornelius Sidler, Wisconsin State Assemblyman and lawyer
• Ken Williams, baseball player

National Football League (NFL) players

• Pat Beach
• Tom Blanchard
• Dick James
• Jerry Sherk
• Don Summers
• Al Wistert

Images for kids

• 

  The Redwood Empire sign on 6th Street

• 

  The Caveman Bridge over the Rogue River on 6th Street

See also

In Spanish: Grants Pass para niños