The City of Phoenix, Oregon, was one of the earliest pioneer settlements in Southern Oregon. Many vestiges of its rich past are still visible today.

The impressive Colver House was located on Highway 99 at the south end of town before it burned down in 2008. The Colver House was built in 1855 by one of the first settlers, Samuel Colver. Colver came west from Ohio in 1850, taking up a donation land claim of 640 acres on a site where Phoenix now stands. The town site of Phoenix was laid out on property he donated to the city in 1854.

Back in the 1850s, Phoenix was the hub of the Rogue Valley. The Rogue River and Modoc Indian Wars, the Northwest gold rush and the onset of the Civil War all played a part in the growth of this frontier town.

With the completion of the Oregon & California Railroad through Phoenix in 1887, travel and trade changed in the region forever. For the first time, agricultural products could reach markets across the country and world. Fruit orchards, particularly pears, grew to become one of the leading industries in Phoenix and still cover many of the rolling hills just outside the city.

Over time, Phoenix became a commercial and residential center in Jackson County. Located eight miles north of Ashland and three miles south of Medford (the largest city in Jackson County), Phoenix is just close enough to surrounding destinations to be convenient, yet still secluded enough to maintain the best of rural Oregon.