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August 6, 2026 at 5:48 pm
JACKSONVILLE, Ore. – The city of Jacksonville is getting ready to bring history to life.
Members of Historic Jacksonville Inc. have been hard at work transforming the old Jacksonville City Hall as the base for a city-wide museum.
The museum will capture the town’s entire National Historic Landmark District interactively.
Carolyn Kingsnorth, president of Historic Jacksonville Inc., said the museum has been in the works for several years. Grants and partnerships with the City of Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Boosters Foundation and the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, have all played key roles in bringing the idea to life.
“Ever since the Jacksonville museum closed in 2010, people have been asking ‘where’s the museum,’ and with a historic town, people expect one,” said Kingsnorth.
In 2020, all city business was moved to a new location, leaving the historic brick building that stands on South Oregon Street empty.
Kingsnorth said the building, which was built in 1881, was the perfect spot to capture the town’s history.
However, there was much more to be explored, leading to a decision that the National Historic Landmark District would serve as the museum, with old city hall being the base.
“Every museum needs a starting point, so that’s when the idea was born of turning this into a history center. It could provide an overview of Jacksonville history and at the same time introduce you to all the many ways you could explore it,” Kingsnorth said.
Guests can expect to witness a collaboration of old and new technology.
Through a stereoscope, visitors can view original photographs from the 1850s. Exhibits will also feature audio visual images, allowing visitors to take a deeper dive into the historical stories.
“One of the things we’ve done is that we’ve taken historic photos and we’ve added three to five seconds of life to them. We have a photo of a miner, panning for gold. He’s swishing the pan around and you hear the noise of the water and you see him moving the gold,” Kingsnorth said.
A big addition to the museum is the GPS self-guided tours. This feature will be available to download on electronical devices. Every stop will include a photo of the location, its name, a short audio narration of its history and historical photos.
“One of the big things that we’re adding is GPS self guided tours that you can take anytime of day, anyday of the year. It gives you as much or as little history as you want, but it’s a way to take the tour at your own time, at your own leisure and learn about this wonderful national historic landmark district. It was the first one on the west coast,” Kingsnorth said.
The museum is currently seeking volunteers and is set to open on October 10.
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