The city of Medford (population around 75,000) is the county seat of Jackson County in Oregon State, United States. The total Medford metropolitan area population is 207,010, the fourth biggest metro area in the state of Oregon. The city of Medford was named after the town of 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. During the year 1883, Loring and S. L. Dolson, together with their group of surveyors, arrived within Rock Point, near present day Gold Hill. The nearby community of Jacksonville wanted the railroad to pass between their town and Hanley Butte, but the decision was made to stake the railroad nearer Bear Creek, the location of present day Medford.
The city's early economy was mainly 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 in the nation and the largest employer within the southern part of Oregon. The company employs approximately 1,700 people with an additional 6,700 employees hired on a seasonal basis in the Medford region. Harry and David Operations Corp. is a local company founded in the year 1910.
About 460,000 people residing in Northern California and Southern Oregon look to the city of Medford as their economic center. Retail sales within the Greater Medford Area during 2008 totaled $7.5 billion dollars. As there are no towns of equal or larger size in hundreds of kilometers, numerous area inhabitants come to the city of Medford for their medical services, making health care a major local industry. Providence Medford Medical Center and Rogue Valley Medical Center employ over 2,000 people. Many area inhabitants choose the city of Medford for their retirement, making senior services and assisted living a growing part of the economy.
Other companies within the city of Medford include Benchmark Maps, which produces detailed maps and atlases; a film production company, Pacific International Enterprises; and a personal computer manufacturing company, Falcon Northwest. The city of Medford is the location of the head office of Lithia Motors, among the biggest auto retailers within the United States.