Jacksonville Oregon - Southern Oregon

When two prospectors hit pay dirt while mining for gold in the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon in 1851 they named the spot Rich Gulch. Within a year Rich Gulch had become the site to booming Jacksonville. One year later it became the county seat and the commercial heart of southern Oregon. Over the next half century Jacksonville, Oregon developed into a wealthy town. Brick commercial buildings lined California Street in downtown Jacksonville, Oregon with elegant Victorian homes being the fashion.

By the 1880s the railroad that run from Portland, Oregon to California' Bay Area by-passed Jacksonville. All of the commercial trade began to develop in nearby Medford, Oregon. Over the years more and more businesses migrated to the main railways of Medford, Oregon and the Rogue River Valley areas.

Jacksonville, Oregon fortunes began to decline and residents were reduced to digging up the streets of town for the gold that lay beneath them.

In 1927 even the county seat was moved to Medford, Oregon. Jacksonville was left with faded memories of better times.

In 1966 the entire town was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. With more than 80 buildings listed here it is the most completely preserved historic town in the Nation.

Today Jacksonville, Oregon is the showcase of southern Oregon history. It is also home to the Britt Festival and is close to the Shakespearean Festival in Ashland, Oregon.

• The Dominguez-Escalante Expeditions Journal:

Through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico in 1776

• I Walked to Zion:
- Young Pioneers on the Mormon Trail

• The Gathering of Zion:
- The Story of the Mormon Trail

• National Geographic's Guide to:
- Lewis and Clark Trail

• Hiking Historic Trails
- Utah's Favorite Hiking Trails

• Scenic Driving - Travel guides
- Scenic Driving in Utah

• Historical reading
- The Old Spanish Trail

---