Friday and Saturday, October 11 and 12, will be Historic Jacksonville, Inc.’s final Haunted History walking tours of 2024. This will be the last chance this year for guests to hear about revengeful women, philandering husbands, playful children, “cherished possessions,” arson for profit, an art critic, a Chinese miner seeking to have his bones returned to his native soil, and other ghosts that still linger in Jacksonville’s National Historic Landmark District—and, in the process, learn a little history about the buildings, their occupants, and life in a gold rush town.
These tours are not your typical “ghost tours” with special effects. They are history tours about real hauntings resulting from past events. The stories—some scary, some benign—come from multiple sources, from people who actually encountered these restless souls and shared their experiences with us.
Tours leave from the Jacksonville Visitors Center at the corner of North Oregon and C streets and last about 1 hour. Guests can choose from 2 different tours on both nights. The 6pm, 6:30pm, and 7pm Courthouse route features brothels, epidemics, and hangings. The 6:15pm and 6:45pm Britt Hill tours highlight murder, arson, saloons, and Oregon’s oldest Chinatown. And both tours have lots of haunted houses! Tours are $10 per person and reservations are required. Tickets are available at www.historicjacksonville.org/haunted-history-tours/. Walk-ups are accommodated based on space available. All proceeds go towards the maintenance of these historic buildings.