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From around the mid-1890s to 1962, the Lyden House stood on the corner of California and Oregon streets at the site of today’s telephone exchange building in Jacksonville. John Lyden and his wife Mary ran the boarding house, charging 35 cents for a night’s lodging in one of its 11 rooms. Rooms were furnished with wash stands, a pitcher, a wash bowl, a chamber pot commode, a “well supplied” towel rack, an iron bedstead with ample bedding, and a good supply of “Buhac” used to d

Did you know that Oregon had the nation’s first female governor? And it was 3 ½ years before Oregon women gained the right to vote? The woman was Carrie (aka Carolyn/Caralyn) B. Shelton. She was acting governor of Oregon for one weekend – 9 a.m. Saturday, February 27, through 10 a.m. Monday, March 1, 1909. It seems that the outgoing governor, George Earle Chamberlain, had been elected to the Senate and had to leave for Washington, D.C., before his term was over if he was to m

Carl Berthold Rostel, born in 1849, was an immigrant from Germany who found his way to the Rogue Valley. According to The Oregon Sentinel advertisements from the 1880s, he had been an “Asst. Surgeon of the German Army.” Here he chose to be a “Professional Hair Cutter” and became known as “The Popular Barber and Hair Dresser” in the Orth Building on S. Oregon Street in Jacksonville. An 1881 issue of the Sentinel noted that “Rostel shaves in the highest style of the art” and is

Although this 1-story brick building was constructed in 1861 for the Haines brothers, for many years this prime Oregon and California street intersection was known as Caro’s Corner. By 1866 Isador Caro was conducting a general merchandise variety store at this site. That same year, he was joined by his 16-year-old brother, Simon, who arrived in Jacksonville directly from Hamburg, Germany. While in Jacksonville, Simon learned Chinese to more readily deal with the 800 Chinese

You may be aware that Cornelius Beekman, Jacksonville’s wealthiest and most prominent pioneer, was a philanthropist, but did you know that his daughter Carrie followed in his footsteps? March is Women’s History Month so Historic Jacksonville, Inc. is sharing the stories of local women, many of them previously untold. You may have heard how Cornelius gave money to build schools and churches. Carrie initially did things on a more personal level, even after she moved to Portla

For years, 2 huge Catalpa trees with their large heart-shaped leaves and popcorn-like clusters of flowers were prominent features in the yard of Jacksonville’s historic 1873 Beekman House Museum. These quick-growing trees were popular plantings in pioneer settlements throughout the West. Also known as the Indian bean tree, the Catalpa was valued for its medicinal uses. Tea brewed from its bark was used as an antiseptic to treat snake bites and whooping cough. A light sedati

Before the Sisters of the Holy Name opened St. Mary’s Academy in 1865 in what is now Beekman Square, they briefly operated St. Joseph’s School for Boys in this building at 310 North 5th Street. They obtained the deed in 1864, the same year they had been brought to Jacksonville by Rev. Francis Xavier Blanchet, who for many years served as the parish priest of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. The school was short lived, before being replaced by St. Mary’s. This structure, known as

Before the Sisters of the Holy Name opened St. Mary’s Academy in 1865 in what is now Beekman Square, they briefly operated St. Joseph’s School for Boys in this building at 310 North 5th Street. They obtained the deed in 1864, the same year they had been brought to Jacksonville by Rev. Francis Xavier Blanchet, who for many years served as the parish priest of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. The school was short lived, before being replaced by St. Mary’s. This structure, known as

St. Mary’s School holds a prominent role in Southern Oregon today, but it traces its beginning to 1865 Jacksonville when Rev. Francis Xavier Blanchet, priest of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, asked the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary to open a school in town. Blanchet collected money and used it to purchase the block bounded by North 5th and 6th and East D and E streets. He spent $642.50 for the property with its two buildings and $1,400 for a piano, leaving less