The Bybee Family Memorial. Jacksonville Cemetery. Jacksonville, Oregon
Jacksonville
Our hosts at the B&B strongly recommended that we visit Jacksonville during our stay in southern Oregon. They thought we’d like the historic “Gold Rush” character of the town. We did enjoy it, but the high heat and the town’s lack of activity diminished our enjoyment.
We drove into Jacksonville around noon. It was already about 95 degrees by the time we parked the car. Despite the heat, we decided to walk around to explore the town. Our first stop was the cemetery. In hindsight, this might not have been the best choice to begin our exploration of Jacksonville, because we had to hike up a hill to get to it. But, it was the most interesting feature on the town’s map; so, that’s where we started.
As all three of my long time readers know, I love walking through cemeteries. I enjoy looking at tombstones and speculating about the hopes, disappointments, joys, and sorrows that lie under the ground beneath a slab of granite. This cemetery didn’t disappoint my curiosities. I expected it to be interesting because it’s one of the oldest cemeteries in Oregon. But, I didn’t expect it to have so many potentially fascinating stories. There was one tombstone that said “Killed by Indians.” Another family plot showed that four children had died before their mother died. Yet another section without headstones was labeled “Pauper Section”. All of these burial plots gave a personal element to the history that permeated the area.
The map that we had obtained earlier listed several trails that ran around the town. These trails could take a hiker to some stunning vistas overlooking Jacksonville, or to the gold mines that dotted the hillsides. We thought we’d take one of the trails that was close to the cemetery to see one of these vistas. Unfortunately, the heat (compounded by the lack of shade) was powerful enough to make us turn around. We instead decided to explore some of Jacksonville’s houses and stores.
After making our way down the hill, we walked along some of the town’s minor streets. Eventually, we found the town’s Catholic Church. This church was one of the oldest in Oregon. The rectory close to it was also one of the oldest buildings of its kind in the state. Unfortunately, both were closed. We took some pictures of their exteriors and walked to Main Street.
Jacksonville’s Main Street was filled with old brick buildings, adorned by graceful wood balconies. All of these buildings had been converted to stores. In order to escape the oppressive heat, we ducked into a couple of the stores stocked with the usual trinkets designed to capture the tourist’s dollar. But, what surprised us about the stores (and the streets) was the lack of people anywhere. It seemed like we were the only ones in Jacksonville that day. One of the storekeepers told us that most of the town’s residents were busy preparing for the opening of the Britt Festival, which was opening that evening. The Britt Festival is an internationally known music festival that takes place every summer in Jacksonville on the grounds of the Britt Mansion. Given the importance of the event, it made sense that the town would seem deserted in preparation for the event.
Still, whether it was the Britt Festival or the heat, the lack of people made Jacksonville seem rather plain to us. We really didn’t see what all the fuss was about. However, there were enough hints of interesting attractions to make us want to visit the town when there were fewer distractions (and cooler weather). I’ll probably make another visit to Jacksonville if I’m in the area. But, if I never make it back there, I probably won’t be too upset.
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