Sharon Bywater
As It Was ContributorSharon Bywater of Ashland, Oregon grew up in Southern California. She taught English literature and writing at Syracuse University in New York, where she also wrote and edited adult literacy books and published freelance articles in local media. Later, she lived in Washington, D.C., where she worked as an international telecommunications policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Commerce. She has Master’s degrees in English and Communications Management. Her husband, Peter Krasilovsky, is a media analyst. Sharon plays the recorder and volunteers for the Southern Oregon Historical Society. She enjoys the wonderful Oregon outdoors, as well as theater, and musical concerts.
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The original jail of Port Orford, Ore., still stands, though quite the worse for wear. Built in 1936 during the height of the timber industry, it was…
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When major U.S. cities were connected to telephone service in the late 1800s, small towns like those in Southern Oregon were left on the sidelines. Most…
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Poltergeists are said to be mischievous ghosts with a variety of tricks, ranging from making loud noises, moving furniture, and knocking on doors to…
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The approach of Halloween is often accompanied by stories of ghosts and otherworldly spirits.One of the many tales about haunted houses concerns the Helms…
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When major U.S. cities were connected to telephone service in the late 1800s, small towns in Southern Oregon were left on the sidelines. They didn’t have…
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In 1879, famed science-fiction writer Jules Verne wrote a book about a utopian city called Ville-France, run by a French doctor, and a German city run by…
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Since 1953, the town of Rogue River, Ore., has held a rooster crowing contest every June. Shade Combs got the idea from an article he read about rooster…
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In March 1965, the owner of Novelcraft Plastics in Gold Hill, Ore., Lew Trickey, ordered 3,500 pounds of coconuts from San Francisco said to be “fresh…
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Does natural mineral water cure rheumatism? Early southern Oregonians believed it did. At one point, the Ashland area had five spring-water spas, one of…
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A year before the United States entered World War I, cars were already making an impact on the country. It was 1916 and the three-day Fourth of July…
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In 1854, James Sterling and a partner dipped a sluicing pan into Sterling Creek near Jacksonville, Ore., and captured some gold nuggets. The two men…
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Southern Oregon’s early Fourth of July celebrations were exuberant, all-day events, often livened by a group calling themselves the “Callithumpians.”…