Following the discovery of gold in the winter of 1851-2, Jacksonville, Oregon,
became a melting pot of races, classes, and cultures as ambitious individuals
pursued the promise of riches. The offer of free land brought settlers
seeking opportunity. The influx of miners and settlers attracted merchants
with goods to sell and opportunists of all kinds.
Historic Jacksonville, Inc. brings the history of Jacksonville and
Southern Oregon to life through the stories of the people, places, and things
that have contributed to who we are today.
Happy Fall!
Our summer tours may be over, but Historic Jacksonville, Inc.
has lots of fun Fall activities to look forward to!
With October just around the corner,
we’re heading into the “witching season.”
Don’t miss our last 2025
Jacksonville Haunted History Tours!
Four nights! Two different tours!
October 3, 4, 10 and 11
6pm, 6:15pm, and 6:30pm
Hear about revengeful women, philandering husbands, playful children, “cherished possessions,” arson for profit, an art critic, a Chinese miner seeking to have his bones returned to his native soil, and other ghosts that sill linger in Jacksonville’s National Historic Landmark District–and in the process, learn a little history about the buildings, their occupants, and life in a gold rush town.
These are not your typical “ghost tours” with special effects. These are history tours about real hauntings resulting from past events, and the stories come from people who have encountered these restless souls!
Tours leave from the Jacksonville Visitors Center at the corner of North Oregon and C streets and last about 1 hour. Guests can choose from 2 different tours each night. The Courthouse route features brothels, epidemics, and hangings. The Britt Hill tours highlight murder, arson, saloons, and Oregon’s oldest Chinatown. And both tours have lots of haunted houses!
Tour sizes are capped; tickets are $10 per person; and reservations are required. Tickets are available at www.historicjacksonville.org/haunted-history-tours/.
Experience different aspects of 19th century life
through the lens of Jacksonville’s richest and most prominent
pioneer family during
For Victorians, death was a part of life, giving it essential meaning, and they created elaborate rituals around the passing of a loved one.
Between 12n and 3pm on two weekends, October 18 and 19, and October 25 and 26, Historic Jacksonville, Inc. will be offering 1-hour “Victorian Mourning Customs” tours beginning every 20 minutes at Jacksonville’s 1870s C.C. Beekman House Museum. Located at 470 E. California in Jacksonville, it was home to the town’s richest and most prominent pioneer family and remains completely furnished with family artifacts.
For these tours, the house will be decorated as a Victorian house in mourning— coffin in the parlor, clocks stopped, mirrors draped in black, mourning wreath on the door, and Victorian mourning clothing and hair jewelry and artwork on display. Costumed docents will share how the Victorians honored their “dearly departed” through fashions, home décor, funeral etiquette, and social behavior, as well as superstitions, séances, mementos, and a few popular practices of the time that we would find bizarre today.
Victorian Mourning Customs:
Honoring the “Dearly Departed”
October 18th and 19th
October 25th and 26th
Docent led 1- hour tours begin every 20 minutes from
12n through 3 p.m.
Beekman House Museum, 470 E. California Street
Admission, $10. Tour size capped.
Reservations encouraged!
https://historicjacksonville.org/victorian-theme-tours/
And then there’s
Jacksonville’s
New Museum…
Jacksonville’s 1881 “Old City Hall” building will become the ADA accessible hub for a “Museum without Walls” that incorporates the town’s entire National Historic Landmark District (the first one on the West Coast)!
Our Old City Hall History Center base will give you an interactive overview of Jacksonville history and share the many ways that you can explore it through walking tours, Haunted History, trolley rides, photo exhibits, programs and presentations, and more!
And we’re adding a new GPS self-guided walking or driving tour that can be downloaded onto your smart phone or tablet. It will let you choose from existing tours, create your own tour based on your interests or available time, or provide you with information about the history of where you are. Every stop includes a photo of your location and its name, a short audio narration of its history with a photo loop of historic images, a text version of the audio, and an opportunity to explore further!
Grants and partnerships with the City of Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Boosters Foundation, the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, foundations and individuals are underwriting the initial design and infrastructure portion of the project. We would welcome your participation as well!
Please consider a donation to Historic Jacksonville, Inc. to help underwrite the project, capital construction, exhibits, and/or audio tours that will share our town’s storied history. It’s as easy as a click on our Donate button!
In the meantime, stay tuned for more museum information!
Then join our
when local dogs explore and share historic Jacksonville.
Here’s Mozzie, one of our tour guides.
He’s a 3-year-old Yellow Labrador who loves belly rubs
and excursions through Jacksonville’s Pioneer Cemetery.
He can also be seen walking the streets of our historic residential neighborhoods. He enjoys meeting other pups and can be shy when greeting new people (but he’s trying!), so be sure to stop and say hello.
Historic Jacksonville’s Walkabout Wednesday Club is a tribute to Storm Large, Jacksonville’s Great Dane “history ambassador.” Every Wednesday for over 7 years, Storm shared our town’s historic sites along with their stories. Club members continue her legacy.
We always welcome new club members, so if you are willing to pose and photograph your dog in front of one of Jacksonville’s many historic sites and share that image with the public, please let us know!
Contact info@historicjacksonville.org and we’ll give you some photography “tips.”
In the meantime, click here to check out the exploits of our Walkabout Wednesday Club, members.
And don’t forget there are always lots of virtual ways to
Explore Historic Jacksonville!
Want an overview? Watch our 30 minute video.
Want a quick sample? Check out our daily Facebook and Instagram posts.
Want to dig deeper? Visit one of the 50 sites on our Walk through History blog.
Enjoy a visit to the historic C.C. Beekman House when
Mrs. Julia Beekman “Invites You to Call”
for a tour of her 1873 home.
Or visit many of Jacksonville’s original residences through our 45 minute
“Step Back in Time” Historic Home video!
Tour Jacksonville’s pioneer cemetery, one of the oldest cemeteries in the Pacific Northwest that has remained in continuous use through our new 45 minute
Pioneer Cemetery tour.
View Jacksonville through the eyes of local pets as they sniff out the
history and stories of local sites each week in our
Walkabout Wednesday series.
Join us for our on-going “Thirsty Thursday” saloon series featuring early Jacksonville stories of beer, wine, whiskey, saloons, and “entrepreneurs”!
So many ways to see the places and learn about the people who transformed a gold rush town into the 19th Century commercial, governmental, and social hub of Southern Oregon! Enjoy the treasure trove of Jacksonville History on this website plus daily history trivia on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Find out how interesting and fun history can be!
Jacksonville 1883 (lithograph)
When Oregon was admitted to the Union in 1859, Jacksonville was the largest inland trade center in the new state, and Jacksonville and its residents played a dominant role in early Oregon history and statehood. But when the railroad by-passed Jacksonville in the 1880s, the town slowly sank into oblivion. However, that oblivion also proved to be the town’s salvation, preserving the historic buildings, homes, and character that you see today—Jacksonville’s National Historic Landmark District. Today, these landmarks live again through the efforts of the City of Jacksonville, volunteers, and private owners so that you can again experience Jacksonville in its heyday.