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.
Do you enjoy a “spirited” evening?
Then don’t miss out on our Jacksonville
Haunted History Tours!
Learn about the ghosts that still linger in Jacksonville’s historic district while learning a little history about the buildings, their occupants, and life in a gold rush town when you join Historic Jacksonville, Inc. on a guided Haunted History walking tour. 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 still dwell in our town’s historic buildings.
We’re offering four nights of tours in October plus two different tours each night! The Courthouse route features brothels, epidemics, and hangings. The Britt Hill tour highlights murder, arson, saloons, and Oregon’s oldest Chinatown. And both tours have lots of haunted houses!
All tours leave from the Jacksonville Visitors Center at the corner of North Oregon and C streets and last about 1 hour. Tours are $10 per person and reservations are required. Tour offerings and starting times vary by date. Check ticket dates for tour and time options! Click here for tickets and additional information.
Victorian Mourning Customs:
Honoring the “dearly departed”!
Victorians created elaborate rituals around the passing of a loved one. The 1870s Beekman House Museum will be decorated as a Victorian house in mourning–clocks stopped, mirrors draped in black, mourning wreath on the door, coffin in the parlof, and 1890s mourning fashions plus hair jewelry and artwork on display. Costumed docents will share the fashions, home decor, funeral etiquette, social behavior, personal mementos, superstitions, and a few popular practices of the time that we would find bizarre today but that honored the dearly departed in the late 1800s.
The Beekman House is located at 470 E. California Street in Jacksonville. Home to Jacksonville’s most prominent pioneer family, it’s still completely furnished with family artifacts.
Guided 1-hour house tours will begin every 20 minutes from 12 noon through 3pm. Tours are $10; tour size is capped; reservations are encouraged.
https://historicjacksonville.org/victorian-theme-tours/
And then there’s
Jacksonville’s New Museum…
Opening October 10, 2026!
Jacksonville’s 1881 “Old City Hall” building is becoming
the ADA accessible hub for a “Citywide Museum”
that incorporates the town’s entire
National Historic Landmark District
(the first one on the West Coast)!
And you can make it happen!
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, 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, you can view illustrations of the new History Center exhibits by visiting our Jacksonville “Citywide Museum” page.
Then join our
when local dogs explore and share historic Jacksonville.
Here’s Mozzie, our favorite Yellow Labrador tour guide.
His favorite things are belly rubs and twice-daily excursions through the Jacksonville Cemetery. He also can be seen walking the streets of our historic residential neighborhoods. He’s a constant companion for his work-from-home human mom since he knows he gets hourly treats from the nearby good-dog cookie jar. 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.