Roseburg, Oregon
Roseburg, the timber capital of the nation, is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in the Umpqua River Valley in southern Oregon, and is the county seat and most populous city of Douglas County. Founded in 1851, the population was 21,181 at the 2010 census, making it the principal city of the Roseburg, Oregon Micropolitan Statistical Area. The community developed along either side of the South Umpqua River and is traversed by Interstate 5. Traditionally a lumber industry town, Roseburg is the home of Roseburg Forest Products.
A landmark is Mount Nebo, a 1200-foot hill west of I-5. A band of angora goats took up residence on the mountain; most were corralled and placed for adoption in the 1980s.
History
The city was named for settler Aaron Rose, who established a homestead within the current city limits on September 23, 1851. Rose was born in 1813 in Ulster County, New York. In 1851, he came to Oregon from Coldwater, Michigan, where he had lived since 1837.
Rose constructed the first building in what would become Roseburg, a rough structure made of poles and clapboards with a front room about 16 or 18 feet square; it was used as a grocery store, backed by a dining room and kitchen. Originally, guests could use the floor of the front room to spread their beds or were able to sleep out of doors under nearby oak trees. His first structure served as a roadside inn and tavern for many years. Rose built a proper hotel in 1853. He died in 1899.