History
Virginia
Way & John Cotton 1939
The park emerged in 1995 through The Way Foundation, a
public charitable trust, founded by the family of Virginia
Way and John Cotton of Ashland, Oregon. The Way
Foundation's primary purpose is to create an active
community legacy with two and one-half square miles of
mountainside timberland.
The
civic involvement of John and Virginia Cotton was well
known in their day. Active in service clubs, non-profit
boards and community activities from the 1950's through the
1990's, the Cottons played significant roles in the
respective evolutions of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival,
Jackson County Public Health, the Ashland Public Library,
Southern Oregon University, Ashland Parks and Recreation,
and Ashland, Oregon's Downtown Redevelopment Plan.
Eleven years ago, John and Virginia's grown children chose
to continue their parent's commitment to their Southern
Oregon community. They created the Way Foundation ("Way”was
Virginia's maiden name), and turned the 1680 acres formerly
associated with John Cotton's lumber business, into a
quasi-public park.