Lithia Park History
Ashland Creek, on the site of today's Lithia Park, was once the location of a water-powered sawmill and water-powered flourmill, which stood at what is now the entrance to the park from 1854 to 1919. Settlers would meet in the plaza and trade wheat for flour or purchase lumber. In 1892, forty-five people from the area formed a Chautauqua Association to bring entertainment and culture to Southern Oregon. The group bought eight acres of land within the area that is today Lithia Park, and on it constructed a domed building for its shows. The foundation of that building can still be seen today, as it is the heavy wall that surrounds the Elizabethan Theatre of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival complex.

The land was later presented to the city and with the help of the Women's Civic Improvement Club and John McLaren, long time superintendent of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, it became Lithia Park. Visitors from miles around would come to participate in the various attractions offered and to camp in the park, which has since been transformed into its present splendor.