JACKSONVILLE, OR—Beginning in August 2021, Historic Jacksonville, Inc. will again be opening the oldest bank in the Pacific Northwest to the public! Scheduled “banking hours” are 11am to 3 pm, Saturdays and Sundays, from August 7 through September 5, 2021. The 1863 C.C. Beekman Bank Museum is located at 110 W. California Street in Jacksonville.
The original bank was established in 1856 as a “gold dust” office, the first financial institution north of San Francisco. During Jacksonville’s heyday as the governmental, commercial, and social hub of Southern Oregon in the late 1800s, the bank saw over $40 million in gold cross its counters—equivalent to over $1 billion today! The current 1863 structure has been preserved intact as a 19th Century banking museum since Cornelius Beekman, the wealthiest and most prominent of Jacksonville’s pioneers, locked the doors in 1915.
Guests are invited to interact with docents sharing stories of late 19th Century banking practices, gold shipping, and handshake deals; to step behind the counter and peer in drawers containing old checks, stage schedules, and paperwork; to enter the vault that stored all those millions in gold! Visitors can spend as much or as little time as they like—although we suggest they allow at least 30 minutes.
Tours are FREE, but donations are encouraged since all monies go towards the preservation and maintenance of this historic legacy!
Additional information is available at 541-245-3650; info@historicjacksonville.org; and https://www.historicjacksonville.org/behind-the-counter-tours/.