Jacksonville dates to 1851, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns · #47 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it
Most of Jacksonville was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Jacksonville Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 76 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1880.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jacksonville is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #47 of 142 in Oregon. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Jacksonville’s overall grade.
Oregon towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Oregon town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Jacksonville’s 261 sits above most of its state (98% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 78 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points). Two sources give 1851.
Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Jacksonville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Jacksonville was founded following discovery of gold deposits in 1851–1852. The first hanging in Southern Oregon took place in Jacksonville in the spring of 1852. With the creation of Jackson County, it became the county seat, a role which was transferred to nearby Medford in 1927.
Jacksonville was home to the first Chinatown in Oregon, founded by immigrants from San Francisco. Physical evidence of this chapter of history was uncovered early in March 2004 when road work uncovered artifacts dating to the 1850s and 1860s. Construction was halted while archeologists performed four days of rescue excavations. Their findings included broken Chinese bowls and tea cups, handmade bottles, and fragments of opium paraphernalia and Chinese coins.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jacksonville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1954Medford sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Jacksonville.
Every building
Jacksonville, building by building, 1884–1930
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewView of Jacksonville by Peter Britt, 1856, 1856
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Jacksonville’s page.
In 1851, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Jacksonville’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1880 counted 839 people here.
How does Jacksonville rank for history?
Jacksonville is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #47 of 142 in Oregon. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Jacksonville?
4 listings: 2 buildings, 1 historic district, the Jacksonville Historic District, with 76 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 78 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Jacksonville?
3% of Jacksonville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1992.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
★ Landmark
1883
2004
