After gold was discovered in Rich Gulch in eighteen fifty one, Jacksonville became the hub of Southern Oregon, until the town was bypassed by the railroad in the eighteen eighties in favor of flatter terrain.

The great depression of the nineteen thirties further decimated Jacksonville, leaving a town of empty buildings and people desperate for work.

Rather than put people on the area's equivalent of welfare, Jackson County gave residents mining permits, beginning Jacksonville's second gold rush.

Most residents dug in their backyards.

Some miners excavated under the property of unsuspecting neighbors who heard mysterious voices beneath their homes.

This search for leftover gold led to tunnels riddling the town.

Huge pits opened up on North Oregon and South fourth streets during the nineteen eighties and nineties.

And when the new Jacksonville library was built in two thousand two, contractors found a tunnel that ran from Lower Britt Gardens under highway two thirty eight under the post office visitor center parking lot down c street to fourth ending under the Jacksonvilleian parking lot.

And breakthroughs continue to occur, all reminisce of Jacksonville's second gold rush.

Southern Oregon experience, stories from our region's history.