Blog

Did you know that James Beard, “America’s first foodie,” the leading U.S. culinary figure during his lifetime, and “The Dean of American Cuisine,” once dined in Jacksonville? And no, it was not at the Jacksonville Inn or one of the town’s other popular restaurants we’re familiar with today. This was during the 1960s and the “restaurant” was actually a small diner built around a circus wagon. It stood at the corner of California and 3rd streets where the replica of Beekman’

“What goes around comes around”! Where Willow Creek now sells jewelry, accessories, personal items, and an array of other indulgences at 115 West California Street in Jacksonville, J.S. Howard, the “Father of Medford” originally enticed customers with the merchandise in his “Crystal Bazaar.” When the building and all its contents were destroyed in the 1884 fire, Howard “abandoned shop” and moved to Medford, selling the lot to Kaspar Kubli. Swiss immigrant Kubli, who had found

The house at 305 N. Oregon Street in Jacksonville has 2 distinct portions built roughly 100 years apart. The 1-story wood frame Classic Revival portion was built around 1868 by Sebastian Plymale, the original owner of the Excelsior Livery Stable which occupied the adjacent block between C and D streets. A later owner was Kate Hoffman, the youngest daughter of revered pioneer, William Hoffman. Like a dutiful daughter, Kate stayed home and cared for her parents until their deat

The 1 ½ story wood frame structure at 305 S. Oregon Street in Jacksonville, known for years as the Kubli House, has been converted into an upscale vacation rental with 4 luxurious suites. The new name honors the Swiss-German origin of prominent early owner, Kaspar Kubli. He acquired this property in 1872 and his family occupied it for 25 years. Kubli had immigrated to the U.S. from Switzerland in 1852, arriving in Jacksonville a year later at the ripe old age of 21. After

The dwelling at 145 W. Pine Street is probably the oldest structure in Jacksonville known to have been built and used as a shed. It was most likely constructed around 1875 after the Kaspar Kubli family purchased the property and the adjacent “Kubli House” in 1872. Photographs of Jacksonville do not include this portion of town until the early 1880s. The building clearly appears on an 1883 map of the town, and in the 1890s the original small rectangular structure is positively

In 1885, scarcely a year after the historic Jackson County Courthouse was completed, it was christened by one of the most notorious events to take place in town—the trial and execution of Louis O’Neil. O’Neil, who had been having an affair with Mrs. Mandy McDaniel, was found guilty of the murder of her husband. An appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court only intensified public interest. The gallows were erected between the courthouse and the jail, screened by a 16-foot-high fen

Law and order in early Jacksonville might best be described as “catch as catch can.” In this case, it appears the murderer was not caught. The “Jacksonville Sentinel” reported a shooting that took place on January 18, 1857. About 2pm, A.J. Driskell, a local miner, was crossing South Oregon from the Brunner & Bros. store to the Table Rock Bakery, when he stopped midway to talk to a Mr. Denby. R.L. Williams stepped out of the shadows, told Denby to “get out of the way,” and

The “Lilac House” at 401 N. Oregon Street just outside the Jacksonville city limits was constructed in 2005 based on the 1909 plans of brothers Greene & Greene, influential early 20th Century architects whose Craftsman “bungalows” are prime examples of the American Arts & Crafts movement. Equally notable, the house stands on the site of an earlier landmark, the J.N.T. Miller house. James Napper Tandy Miller had arrived in Jacksonville in 1854 and taken out a land claim adjoin

From the mid-1850s until at least 1907, it was the site of the Union Livery Stable. Horses, saddles, wagons, buggies, and tack could be rented as needed, and drivers could be provided. Carriages for residents were stored there and horses stabled. In 1911, the Union was replaced by the Bailey Livery Stable. Before long, however, “horseless carriages” replaced horses and a Mobil gas station replaced the old livery stable. It operated at this corner for a number of years, bu

The Frederick Luy House at 490 S. Oregon Street in Jacksonville was probably built in the 1870s. Early maps and photographs of Jacksonville do not include the southern area of the town so it’s hard to date the structure. Luy’s wife was Frances Young, the elder daughter of G.W. Young who had purchased the property in 1864. Frederick Luy, a native of Baden, Germany, was a boot and shoemaker by trade. He came to Oregon in 1852 and probably arrived in Jacksonville a year or so

Jacksonville’s California and Oregon street corner, the current site of the telephone exchange building, was previously home to the Lyden House. When J.C. Whipp moved his Marble Works to Ashland in 1902, Michigan native John Lyden converted the old showroom into a boarding house. John and his wife Mary ran it for the next few years, charging 35 cents for a night’s lodging in one of its 11 rooms. Rooms were furnished with washstands, a pitcher, a wash bowl, a chamber pot co

Did you know that the Magnolia Hotel at 245 North 5th Street in Jacksonville was built in the early 1900s as the Rogue River Sanitarium? At the time, that meant health spa. Such sanitariums were part of the “Wellville” movement pioneered by the Kellogg brothers. This approach to medicine advocated holistic treatments and vegetarianism, and such sanitariums typically focused on nutrition, exercise, and…enemas to cleanse the system. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg also created the “he

When the Magruder House, located at 455 E. California Street in Jacksonville, was constructed in 1871, Catharine Fleming Magruder was 60 and her husband Edmund, a retired farmer, was 70. He had previously owned and farmed about 1,000 acres along the Rogue River between what is now Gold Hill and Rogue River. Catharine was the widowed mother of Clara Birdseye, a formidable pioneer woman. One source reports Edmund building the house. A brief note in the April 1st edition of The

The vernacular farmhouse at 675 E. California Street was built in 1878 for prominent local physician, Dr. Martin Vrooman. Born in New York in 1818, Vrooman apparently did have formal medical training since an Oregon Sentinel article described him as a “regular graduate” and not one of the “guessing school of physicians.” But like many others, Vrooman heard the call of gold and headed west. In 1850 he was mining in California on the Middle Fork of the American River. He appare

The Mary Ann Harris-Chambers house at the corner of North 3rd and C streets was built around 1867, replacing her earlier home on this site. She moved to Jacksonville from a homestead north of Grants Pass after an 1855 Rogue Indian raid killed her first husband, George Harris, and her son. With her daughter reloading, Mary Ann had fired the family’s shotguns from various cabin windows, holding off the attack for over 5 hours until the Indians gave up and left. On Valentine’s D