What a Difference 125 Years Make! Daily Life Then and Now: 1900 vs. 2025 

JACKSONVILLE, OR—Compare how lifestyles have changed in 125 years when Historic Jacksonville, Inc. opens the C.C. Beekman House for “Daily Life Then and Now” tours! Close your eyes and try to imagine your life in 1900 without your smart phone – for that matter, without any phone at all. What if you had no computer or Internet connection of any kind?  Could you live without TV or radio?

And that’s just the beginning as Historic Jacksonville invites you to time travel back to 1900 for a “retro” tour of daily Jacksonville life. You’ll be visiting communication, fashion, etiquette, entertainment, chores, household “amenities,” and much more – things we take for granted like HVAC, running water, and…bathrooms!

Thirty-minute tours will begin about every half hour between 12n and 3pm on Saturdays February 22, March 15, and April 19 at the 1870s C.C. Beekman House, located at 470 E. California Street in Jacksonville, Oregon. Tour admission is $8 (cash or check at the door). 

All proceeds go towards maintenance of Jacksonville’s historic buildings and the programs and events that bring them to life and make them relevant for people today.   

 “We take so much of our lifestyle for granted,” observes Carolyn Kingsnorth, President of Historic Jacksonville, Inc. “We forget, or don’t know, that only 125 years ago our ancestors still traveled by horse, wagon, or buggy. Trains had only recently replaced stagecoaches for longer trips; automobiles were a rare novelty. Did you know that even after World War II, one-third of Americans still lacked indoor plumbing? And in the 1960s Jacksonville had a building moratorium—a halt in all new construction—until water and sewer services could be made available.”

She continues, “For many of us, only things that have happened in our lifetimes are relevant. We don’t stop to think about how our history has shaped who we are today. For younger guests, these tours may be ‘eye openers’; for older guests, they may bring back family memories that were handed down from earlier generations. For all of us, they serve as an entertaining and informative trip into Jacksonville’s past.”