Porters Restaurant in Medford Oregon. The city of Medford was born in the late 1800s when the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad pushed south through a town called ‘Middleford' in the Rogue Valley. By 1910 Medford, renamed by a railroad engineer, was a rapidly growing, prosperous community and Jackson County had become one of the fastest growing counties in the United States. In February of 1910 ground was broken for a new brick railroad depot to replace the older, wooden structure located south of Main Street. This new passenger depot was completed and dedicated in October of the same year, a mere nine months from start to finish. After just two glorious decades passenger rail service declined due in part to the Great Depression and the increasing popularity of automobile travel.
From 1955 to 1996 the depot was used only as a freight office. Now, after extensive renovation as a restaurant and bar, Porters Restaurant in Medford Oregon is designated as a National Historic Landmark. This true gem of Southern Oregon architecture once again proudly serves the community. While enjoying your visit and award winning cuisine, take a moment to observe and appreciate the numerous original and still functioning features of this historic building: over 350 squares of midwest red tile roofing, hand chiseled exterior granite corbels and massive wooden beams. Ninety year old ‘railroad graffiti' adorns much of the hand-hewn brick work. Indoors one finds authentic golden painted radiators that heat the building in the winter months, craftsmen style chandeliers (reproduced from a 1914 photograph) radiating their own warmth and ambiance and all the windows are original, having been recased and rehung.
The original railway Passenger Ticket counter now serves as the curved center section of the ‘Loose Caboose Bar' and even the special ‘banquet-party room' was once the sole domain of the Station Master, who no doubt held a party or two of his own there.
Porters Restaurant in Medford, Oregon is nostalgically named in honor of all the men and women who work professionally aboard passenger trains bringing food, drink, courtesy and a warm smile to their traveling patrons.
