Jacksonville in Jackson County, Oregon — The American West (Northwest)
China Quarter
Jacksonville, Oregon 1865
Photographed By Douglass Halvorsen, March 10, 2013
1. China Quarter Marker
In the 1860s the view from this spot on Main street would have looked much different than it does today. During the the Gold Rush boom of the 1850s, Jacksonville's early merchants and shopkeepers located their businesses along this section of Main Street. After the town's commercial center was relocated to present-day California Street, this area became home to the hundreds of Chinese merchants and workers who had been brought in by Chinese labor bosses to work Jacksonville's gold mines, build roads, dig water ditches, and to construct the Oregon and California Railroad. After the gold mines played out and the construction projects were completed, the Chinese moved out and abandoned the old china Quarter. the crumbling buildings were eventually torn down, except for Jacksonville's 1880 City Hall--Oregon's oldest town hall.
Former Site of Jacksonville's China Quarter
In a two block area along Main Street near Oregon Street once stood wooden buildings occupied by Jacksonville's Chinese residents. Arriving in the 1850's to search for gold, these people worked hard and endured much. By 1890, as mining slowed and hostility toward them grew, the Chinese left Jacksonville. Soon, all traces of the "China Quarter" disappeared.
Erected by
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Asian Americans • Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1880.
Location. 42° 18.86′ N, 122° 58.15′ W. Marker is in Jacksonville, Oregon, in Jackson County. Marker is on West Main Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Jacksonville OR 97530, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. City Hall (within shouting distance of this marker); World War II Three Trees Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); History of Local Telephone Service (within shouting distance of this marker); History Right Here - Furniture Fabrication (within shouting distance of this marker); Undermining the Great Depression (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Rogue River Valley Railroad Depot (about 400 feet away); Beekman Bank Well (about 400 feet away); The Britt House: Simple Frame to Cottage Gothic (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Jacksonville.
Photographed By Douglass Halvorsen, March 10, 2013
2. China Quarter Marker
Photographed By Douglass Halvorsen, December 25, 2013
3. Long Toms
"Long Toms", with their extended water troughs, were more efficient in separating gold from gravel than gold pans and rockers. Six miners could process 500 buckets of gravel a day through the "Long Tom" - twenty times as much as with a gold pan. Supplied with a continuous stream of water, the men shoveled gravel into the device's upper end, while one man at the lower end stirred up the dirt as it washed down, separating and discarding the larger rocks. The heavier gold dust settled out behind the wooden riffles. Some Jacksonville miners added a perforated false bottom to double sort the gravels.
Chinese miners, who often re-worked abandoned gold claims, were rewarded for their hard work by finding gold that had been left behind by careless miners racing on looking for even richer diggings.
Chinese miners, who often re-worked abandoned gold claims, were rewarded for their hard work by finding gold that had been left behind by careless miners racing on looking for even richer diggings.
Photographed By Douglass Halvorsen, March 10, 2013
4. China Quarter Marker
Photographed By Douglass Halvorsen, March 10, 2013
5. China Quarter Marker
Photographed By Douglass Halvorsen, March 10, 2013
6. China Quarter Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on January 20, 2018. It was originally submitted on January 18, 2018, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon. This page has been viewed 219 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on January 18, 2018, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
