Office dropped "Mills" from Ashland's name. In 1872 Reverend J. H. Skidmore opened a college, Ashland Academy, a predecessor of Southern Oregon University. In 1887, Portland, Oregon and San Francisco, California were joined by rail at Ashland. Until 1926, when most rail service began taking a different route (east through Klamath Falls to avoid the steep grade through the Siskiyou Mountains), Ashland thrived on rail trade of local products, including pears, peaches, and apples. In 1908, the Women's Civic Improvement Club petitioned for the creation of community space along Ashland Creek, which became Ashland Canyon Park. The discovery of lithia water near Emigrant Lake around the same time led to a plan to establish a mineral spa at the park. Voters approved bonds to pay for the project, which included piping the mineral water from its source to Ashland. The town engaged John McLaren, landscape architect of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, to design the park, renamed Lithia Springs Park, later shortened to Lithia Park. Although the park was popular, the mineral spa plans proved too expensive for local taxpayers and were abandoned in 1916. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs took to bottling and selling mineral waters from the area's springs. During the Fourth of July celebration in 1935, Angus L. Bowmer arranged the first performances of what would become the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The festival has grown since then, and has become an award-winning and internationally-known regional theater company. Many of Ashland's historic buildings have been preserved and restored. The city has 59 individual structures and four historic districts (Downtown District, Siskiyou-Hargadine District, Railroad District, Skidmore Academy District) on the National Register of Historic Places. The structures include the Enders Building (home of the Columbia Hotel), which from 1910 to 1928 contained the largest mercantile establishment between Sacramento and Portland. Geography Ashland is at above sea level in the foothills of the Siskiyou and Cascade ranges, about north of the California border on Interstate 5 (I-5). About south of Ashland and north of the California border is Siskiyou Summit, which at is the highest point on I-5. Ashland is about southeast of Medford and south of Portland. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of about , all land. Ashland Creek and its tributaries begin on the flanks of Mount Ashland, at above sea level in the Siskiyou Mountains south of the city. Upstream (south) of