Originally named the Barnum Hotel, the building has been named the Hotel Grand since 1927. It is one of two first-class hotels left standing of the five which were in existence in Medford in 1930.

The hotel, situated directly east of the Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, was designed to serve passengers who wanted decent but modest accommodations and local residents who needed the same. The second surviving hotel, the Medford Hotel, was designed to serve a slightly more distinctive social class of citizen, and was located some distance from the railroad.

The Hotel Grand is significant for its contribution to the early growth of transportation in the region; for its association with the W. S. Barnum family, who played a critical role in the establishment of transportation services in Jackson County; and as the sole example of hotel architecture designed by noted southern Oregon architect Frank Chamberlain Clark.

Adapted from the NRHP nomination submitted in 1984.