GRANTS PASS

city, seat (1885) of Josephine county, southwestern Oregon, U.S., on the Rogue River, in the Klamath Mountains, 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Medford. A stage stop on the Sacramento-Portland overland route, it was named for President Ulysses S. Grant and developed after the Oregon and California (later Southern Pacific) Railroad established a station there in 1883. A trading point for mining, forest, and agricultural products, Grants Pass serves as a tourist base for the Rogue River recreational area and is headquarters for Siskiyou National Forest. Rogue Community College opened there in 1970. The Oregon Caves National Monument is 50 miles (80 km) south. Inc. 1887. Pop. (1990) 17,503; (1994 est.) 19,328.