Josephine County, Oregon

Josephine County is located in the of. According to , the is probably named after a stream in the area called Josephine Creek, which in turn is probably named after Virginia Josephine Rollins Ort. In, its population was 75,726. The of the county is.

Economy
Most of the commercial activity during the territorial period centered on gold mining and the supply of provisions to miners. Miners had been active in the and Illinois valleys since 1851. By the late 1850s, however, gold mining was beginning to decline and population dwindled as well. In 1859, gold was discovered along the in  and numerous people left Josephine County to search for valuable claims there.

Josephine County shares the and  wine appellations with. The U.S. government owns the majority of the land within the county boundaries, with the owning 28% of the lands within the county boundaries, most of which are  lands, and the  owning 39%.

Grants Pass is now the departure point for most Rogue River scenic waterway guided fishing and boat trips. The Illinois River, one of the Rogue's tributaries, has also been designated a scenic waterway.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 4,252 (1,642 ). 4,247 km² (1,640 sq mi) of it is land and 5 km² (2 sq mi) of it (0.12%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

 * - (west)
 * - (east)
 * - (north)
 * - (southwest)
 * - (south)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 75,726 people, 31,000 households, and 21,359 families residing in the county. The was 18/km² (46/sq mi). There were 33,239 housing units at an average density of 8/km² (20/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 93.90%, 0.27% or , 1.25% , 0.63% , 0.11% , 1.17% from , and 2.68% from two or more races. 4.26% of the population were or  of any race. 18.5% were of, 14.3% , 10.4% and 9.3%  or American ancestry according to. 95.6% spoke and 2.8%  as their first language.

There were 31,000 households out of which 26.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.40% were living together, 10.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.10% were non-families. 25.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the county, the population was spread out with 23.10% under the age of 18, 6.50% from 18 to 24, 23.20% from 25 to 44, 27.20% from 45 to 64, and 20.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 94.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,229, and the median income for a family was $36,894. Males had a median income of $30,798 versus $22,734 for females. The for the county was $17,234. About 11.30% of families and 15.00% of the population were below the, including 21.10% of those under age 18 and 6.80% of those age 65 or over.

History
The discovery of rich placers at Sailor Diggings (later known as ) in 1852 and the resulting gold rush brought the first settlers to this region. Several U.S. Army forts were maintained in the county and many engagements during the (1855-1858) took place within its boundaries.

Josephine County was created by the Territorial Legislature on, , from the western half of. It was the nineteenth, and last, county created before statehood.

The county seat was originally located in Sailor Diggings, but in July of 1857 was relocated to, situated on the main route between the port of and the gold fields. In 1886, the county seat was finally relocated to, a new town on the railroad that was completed through Oregon that same year.

Although several tribes of s lived in the area from which Josephine County was created, most of their members had been moved to the reservation at by the end of the Rogue River Indian War. Soon afterwards all Indians in southwest Oregon, with the exception of a few tiny bands, were moved to the Coast reservation (later known as the ).

Josephine County was also the home to a large Chinese population. Most had come to the area to work gold claims purchased from whites no longer interested in working them. Even though they could not own land, they had to pay a tax to mine gold, and were relegated to inferior claims.

In November 2006, voters rejected a library levy causing the libraries in Josephine County to shut down.