Southern Oregon Ramble - Fall 2003
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-Idleyld Park and Steamboat Inn |
Historic Jacksonville"Historic Jacksonville" is how Jacksonville (http://www.jacksonvilleoregon.org/) is almost always referred to now, a marketing coup for the Chamber of Commerce, I guess. Currently it's a community of about 2,000 just a short drive through the pear orchards from Ashland. A very pretty drive this time of year, the late pears (Bosc, we think) were almost ready to pick -- boxes waiting in the fields and every tree loaded. Most of the fields around here are owned by or leased by Harry and David (http://www.harryanddavid.com/), the giant "Fruit of the Month Club" business that claims to be the first in the county to market the concept. Since they started in about 1930, it's likely true. Jacksonville was established as a gold rush town in the 1850s. When the gold ran out, it didn't become a ghost town, but it didn't thrive either until the 1960s when the restoration movement took hold here with great enthusiasm. Not thriving was probably a good thing in the long run, because it meant the old buildings were all sitting there waiting for a little TLC. There are over 100 restored commercial, residential and public buildings erected from 1850 to 1880 that you can tour or at least walk by. The locals also have wisely established a system of parks and open spaces, trails and walking paths that allow you to wander about in nature when you've had enough history. And there are benches and public restrooms and parking and free maps and guides, so it's all pretty convenient. In a nod to Oregon's rainy Fall, Winter and Spring, their walking trails have a motto: "There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing." We didn't have time to stroll this trip, but we did go though several of the downtown buildings. And tried to have ice cream in one of them, that had an ice cream sign out front. But when we asked where the ice cream was from (because, of course, we are loyal to Umpqua when in this part of the state), the counter snip said "Oregon." But where in Oregon? we asked. Just Oregon she said. It looked like an off-brand to us, so we passed and went to the Historical Museum. Probably Dari-Gold anyway. The museum is housed in the old courthouse with the white folks history arranged chronologically in one half and an excellent Native American exhibit in the other. It's small but quite thorough and does a very good job of giving you a feel for the economy and society in Jackson County over the last 150 years. One part of the museum that we particularly enjoyed was about
half-way through, where sitting at a old-fashioned diner-style
booth, you can play an individual table-side juke box for a nickel
a number. All the selections were automobile-oriented and from
the 20's and 30's. We played a Will Rogers monologue from 1932
called "Traffic Problems" and a song by Memphis Minnie
and Her Boys called "Me and My Chauffeur." It was a
blues-y song with sexual innuendo pretty tame for the era, Will had a few good lines, too, "Some men are born foolish, others buy second-hand cars." And "More men are killed by autos than by wives, which proves it's safer to get married than to cross the street." Ah, the gentler humor of an earlier age. Another exhibit featured historical movie clips. We watched a clip of "Orchard Spraying in 1928," cringing as the workers and managers blithely walked back and forth through the clouds of insecticide or whatever. It was also at this museum that we learned that the first commercial vineyards in the Umpqua Valley had actually been planted by Peter Britt in the 1850s and the industry was only done in when Oregon went "dry" (abolished the sale of all alcoholic liquor, for you foreigners) in 1915, five years before the entire US followed suit. The winery industry wasn't re-established in this area until the 1970's, but has been going strong ever since. (Peter Britt, an early homesteader and photographer, also lends his name to the summer music festival which is held on the site of his estate. The festival (http://www.brittfest.org/) is a series of about 50 outdoor concerts presented in June, July and August ranging last season from Credence Clearwater to Julio Inglesias.) All in all, it's an entertaining and educational museum where we spent quite a lot of time for very little money ($3.50 I think). The admission price also gets you into the Children's Museum next door in the former jail. This museum is mostly for the entertainment of children rather than about children's things, so we didn't stay long. But keep it in mind if you're traveling through Oregon with tots in tow.
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