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Rogue Valley
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TODAY'S ROGUE
VALLEY.com
The Jacksonville, Oregon, Queen Anne style Jeremiah Nunan House, circa 1892, is called the Catalogue House. Purchased by Jeremiah Nunan as a Christmas present for his wife, it was shipped from Knoxville, Tennessee in 14 railroad boxcars. It took six months to assemble it in Jacksonville.
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Home to several Historical sites such as the Jacksonville Museum (formerly the old courthouse.) Visitors can come see exhibits and collections of yesteryears. More than 80 individual buildings are on the National Register or Historic Places.
In 1966, the entire town of Jacksonville was designated a National Register of Historic landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior. There are historic Inns and Bed and Breakfast Inns (most are actual historic landmarks that reflect the mystery and elegance of an earlier era.) The Peter Britt House, the Nunan House, the Beekman House and others await to show you "Living History."
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Noted as a historical showcase, the Gold Rush town of Jacksonville has been designated as a National Historic Landmark Community. Located in the foothills of the Siskyou Mountains, this old west town has over 90 original brick and wooden buildings that date back to the 1850s. Using the 100 year old photographs of pioneer Peter Britt, many have been restored to their original state. Strolling by the historic buildings on Oregon and California Streets will take you back to the frontier days of this mining town. Today's Rogue Valley Peter Britt, a Swiss native, lived in Jacksonville. He was an accomplished photographer and horticulturalist, who took the first photos of Crater Lake. These photographs later aided in the decision to designate it as a National Park. His photographic work can be seen at the Jackson County Museum. His elaborate and extensive gardens, (the Peter Britt Gardens at First and Pine Street), were the site of the original Peter Britt Music Festival. Now held at the Britt Pavilion just south of the Gardens, the festival has internationally renowned performers, and features jazz, popular, classical, bluegrass and country music, as well as dance, musical theater, Broadway musicals and more. It is a series of approximately 40 concerts, scheduled from the last week of June through the first week of September.
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The Jacksonville Museum is in a brick and stone Italianate building built in 1883 that formerly served as the courthouse, until the county seat was moved to Medford. There is a section featuring the works of Peter Britt, as well as exhibits on the history of the Oregon and California Railroad in the Rogue Valley, mining, the Chinese, and Jacksonville history in general. The nearby Children's Museum is housed in the 1910 Jackson County Jail. It has exhibits including old fashioned toys, walk through exhibits for a pioneer jail, kitchen and tepee and a collection of Vance Colvig memorabilia and cartoons. Vance ("Pinto") Colvig, a Jacksonville native, was the voice for many Walt Disney characters, including Goofy, Grumpy (in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), and Pluto. He was also the first Bozo the Clown. |
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In the early years Gold
was discovered in the Oregon territory at Rich Gulch
in 1851. Miners flocked to the Rogue Valley from everywhere to seek their
fortune. Within months, thousands were scoring the hills hoping to stake a
claim. A thriving mining camp emerged along the gold-lined creekbeds and before
long, the bustling camp was transformed into a town named "Jacksonville".
The gold rush fever brought prosperity very quickly to Jacksonville and by the
winter of 1852, saloons and gambling halls were springing up to coax the gold
from the hands of the eager prospectors. Makeshift shops, supply stores, a bank
and all sorts of enterprising businesses suddenly began to appear on the scene.
During these early "boom" years,
Jacksonville became the hub of commerce in Southern Oregon and the county seat
of government. In 1884, when the railroad decided to bypass Jacksonville and
choose the new town of Medford as the primary link between north and south, many
residents and businesses moved away. A few wealthy merchants built grand
mansions and the new County Court House was completed in 1884. By the -1890's
agriculture had replaced mining as the main industry in the Valley.