Digging Jacksonville – October 2019

While those of you who have followed our “Digging Jacksonville” column have had a behind-the-scenes glimpse at some of the significant findings from our work on Britt hill (see the Digging Jacksonville archives to catch-up), there is a lot we have not had the chance to tell you. Until now!

We first excavated at the site in 2010 in preparation for needed infrastructure improvements and proposed development in the Britt Gardens, but plans changed and the funding was lost. As a result, dozens of artifact boxes have been waiting patiently in the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology (SOULA) for a chance to tell their story. That day has come. Thanks to a roughly $15,000 “Preserving Oregon” grant, SOULA will finally get a chance to analyze the tens of thousands of artifacts and compile the report on the project. This report will help the city of Jacksonville to manage the park without any unnecessary impact to the archaeology, and allow for the information gained from the excavations to be shared with the community, visitors, and scholars interested in the Britt story.

For example, we found a pipe Peter Britt smoked in his early days in town. This pipe is identical to ones found at Rogue River War sites across the region, and may have been one Britt imported to the valley and sold during his muleskinning days. We found jet mourning buttons that might have been worn by Amalia Britt upon the untimely death of their son, Arnold. We found dolls and tea sets belonging to Mollie Britt, dishes that served family meals, and glass plates negatives that captured images of the people and places where Britt focused his famous lens. In addition to what we found, it is the where we found it on the landscape that helps us piece together the Britt story over time.

This is just one part of a multi-pronged effort to preserve and promote the Britt Gardens Site, which also includes its nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, and the creation of a digital artifact exhibit hosted in the Southern Oregon University Hannon Library digital archives that will allow select artifacts from the site (and their stories) to be shared with a wide audience.

The Britt Gardens site is an important heritage resource. It marks the location of one of the first photography studios in the state. It is where Peter Britt planted some of the first pear trees in the area, 30 years before the first commercial orchards were established in the valley. It is also where Peter Britt experimented with wine grape varietals and made some of the first Southern Oregon wine. And it was home to the formal garden known as “Britt Park,” which was as a popular attraction for locals and visitors alike throughout the late 19th – early 20th century. Today the site continues to serve the community as a place to be inspired and entertained, as it has for more than a century. We think that is a story worth telling.