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The house located at 360 S. Oregon Street in Jacksonville was probably constructed around 1893, for the Otto Biede family, shown here—although it may have been a “remodeled” version of an 1880s house. Otto and Marie Biede were both born in Hanover, Germany in 1858. They immigrated to the U.S. in 1884, arriving in Jacksonville in 1890 where Otto established a hardware and tinsmith business and Marie taught piano lessons. An earlier structure existed on the lot no later than 18

Someone recently asked us about the building at 125 South 3rd Street in Jacksonville that now houses South Stage Cellars. It’s sometimes known as the B.F. Dowell Law Office but that’s a misnomer—Dowell’s office was next door. The building was originally P.J. Ryan’s “Dwelling House.” A 23-year-old Ryan, a native of Ireland, had arrived in Jacksonville no later than 1853. That same year he purchased the Palmetto Bowling Saloon, marking the dawning of a career as one of the t

The innocuous one-story home at 110 West C Street hides a wealth of history. The current house was built as a rental property in the 1930s. However, the site was originally part of the adjacent Combest property. In the 1870s, it became the location of the Democratic Times newspaper. When that paper merged with the Southern Oregonian in the early 1900s, the site became the meeting hall of the Native Sons of Oregon. The Native Sons of Oregon was founded in the late 1800s, the f

The acreage on North 5th Street from Blackstone Alley through the Jacksonville Buggy Wash was originally home to Judge Paine Page Prim. A successful lawyer, Prim represented Jackson County at the Oregon Constitutional Convention, served as a state senator and a Circuit Judge, and was a Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court for 21 years. In 1860, local contractor, David Linn, built an attractive home at this location for Prim and his growing family. However, Prim’s young wife

From as early as 1855 to at least 1888, Jacksonville’s southwest corner of California and 4th streets housed Patrick Donegan’s smithy. Donegan, a native of Ireland, had immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager and by 1850 had followed the hordes of gold seekers to San Francisco. After trying his hand in the California gold fields, he staked a claim in the Oregon mining camp of Sterling before settling in Jacksonville in 1855 and returning to the profession for which he had traine

When 34-year-old Sarah Jane Fehely died from typhoid in 1871, she left her husband Patrick with 7 children to raise. Following the Fehely’s marriage 20 years earlier, the birthplaces of their children traced their travels in pursuit of gold from Wisconsin to Jacksonville. “Fehely Gulch” near Lewiston in Northern California marks one of their stops. The Fehelys arrived in Jacksonville prior to the 1860 census, which shows Patrick as a “farmer.” During the next decade he app

The building at 125 South 3rd Street in Jacksonville that now houses South Stage Cellars is sometimes known as the B.F. Dowell Law Office but that’s a misnomer—Dowell’s office was next door. The building was originally P.J. Ryan’s “Dwelling House.” A 23-year-old Patrick Ryan, a native of Ireland, had arrived in Jacksonville no later than 1853. That same year he purchased the Palmetto Bowling Saloon, marking the dawning of a career as one of the town’s earliest and longest-t

It’s Britt music festival season in Jacksonville! The Britt Festival grounds, the Britt Gardens, and portions of Jacksonville’s Woodlands Trail System were the homestead of Swiss-born pioneer Peter Britt who arrived in Jacksonville in 1852. Britt is perhaps best known as the pioneer photographer who documented Southern Oregon’s people, activities, and landscapes from the 1850s to 1900. However, he was also an avid gardener and is considered to be the father of Southern Oregon

Have you ever wondered about the stone foundation in the lower Britt Gardens? It’s a 1976 reconstruction of the footprint of Peter Britt’s home that burned in 1960. As pioneer photographer Peter Britt’s enterprises expanded over the years, his Jacksonville home on Britt hill became a reflection of his growing prosperity. By 1854, the dugout log cabin that served as both living quarters and daguerreotype studio seemed crude and confining. He cleared ground for a new one-story

Have you been enjoying Britt Festival’s fabulous summer season? If you’re a Jacksonville resident you may know that the Festival grounds are part of the estate of Swiss-born Peter Britt, Oregon’s first photographer. He arrived in Jacksonville in the fall of 1852 with a 2-wheeled cart of photographic equipment, a yoke of oxen, a mule, and $5 in his pocket. He filed a donation land claim on acreage that is now the Festival grounds, the lower Britt gardens, and a portion of t

Do you remember when 1-Hour Photo Service became popular? Jacksonville’s famed pioneer photographer, Peter Britt, offered the service in the mid-1800s—100 years before it became trendy again! And it seems that Britt’s exotic gardens were not only a regional horticultural and tourist attraction, they were also part of his 1-hour service. Historic Jacksonville, Inc. came across the following notice in a June 17, 1865, “Oregon Sentinel” newspaper: “PHOTOGRAPHY—Those who wis

Jacksonville’s current Pioneer Village at 805 North 5th Street is the namesake of an earlier 5-acre Pioneer Village constructed by George McUne between 1961 and 1964. For over 20 years, McUne’s Pioneer Village was an adventure into Jacksonville’s past with authentic buildings from nearby locations that were filled with the historic relics McUne collected. In the village stockade, visitors watched western fights and “black snake whip” demonstrations. They took pony rides and b

The house at the corner of North Oregon and C streets now known as the Plymale Cottage was originally constructed for local saloon keeper, Henry Breitbarth, possibly by contractor and furniture maker, David Linn. When Breitbarth was unable to pay off his debt, the property reverted back to Linn. When Linn’s planing mill and furniture factory burned in the fire of 1888, it also destroyed William and Josephine Plymale’s home which was located where the Jacksonville Visitors’ Ce

Did you know that the Jacksonville post office is the only independent post office in Jackson County with its own superintendent—a story all to itself. And it’s the oldest continually operating post office in the county since opening in 1854. It’s been located in almost every building in Jacksonville’s historic downtown. With mail now being sent to Portland for processing and people concerned about mailed in ballots in the upcoming election, for the next History Trivia Tue

And so we continue the saga of the Jacksonville Post Office. Beginning in 1922, Jacksonville employed an extended series of women post masters: Flora Thompson (1922-27), who had previously worked as a stenographer in the sheriff’s office; Alice Hoefs (1928-1932), formerly a saleswoman; Lulu Saulsberry—shown here (1933); Ella Eaton (1934-38), who later became the town telephone operator; Ruth Hoffman (1939-1942), Eastern Star Matron; and Mary Smith Christean (1943-1952). Short