Document text
78 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, April 9, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend March 12, 2004 Julie Schablitsky, archaeologist with the Oregon Department of Transportation, trowels through the earth Thursday looking for artifacts in an area that once served as Jacksonville�s Chinatown. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Archaeologists find riches in the road The rebuilding of Highway 238 through downtown Jacksonville allows ODOT dig team to unearth historic treasures By SANNE SPECHT Mail Tribune The morning after uncovering what turned out to be remains of Oregon‘s oldest Chinatown, archaeologist Julie Schablitsky stands under the bucket of a giant excavator and carefully spades through the newly exposed earth, looking for more historical treasures in Jacksonville. The operator of the excavator watches for her signal to take another few inches off the top. Once the machine has done its job, Schablitsky peers into the dirt and begins pulling out physical evidence of lives lived 150 years ago — segments of Chinese teacups, chips of animal teeth and bones, metal fragments off oil lamps and flattened pieces of opium tins. These artifacts predate the state’s other Chinese settlements, creating a find of enough historical significance that the Oregon Department of Transportation is putting a temporary hold on this section of its $3.5 million project to rebuild a one-mile stretch of Highway 238 in downtown Jacksonville. However, the discovery just west of the intersection with Oregon Street will not stop traffic, and the overall delay should not impact the project significantly, says Schablitsky — one of ODOT’s two full-time archaeologists. Advertisement The center section of the street remains open to traffic, and 24-hour flagging will start on Tuesday when Schablitsky gets her reinforcements. A team of 10 archaeologists from the University of Oregon will arrive in Jacksonville early Tuesday and stay until Friday. Their job is to help Schablitsky and her partner, Patrick O’Grady, carefully dig up cordoned-off areas in front of the phone company and Thai House Restaurant. The team will use hand trowels and sifting screens to help identify and catalog their finds. "We should be done by Friday afternoon (March 19)," she says. "With so many people, we’ll get the information and get out of the way." Stephanie Butler of the Southern Oregon Historical Society stands watching as Schablitsky inspects a three-foot-square section of dense, darker colored earth. "What is this? I want to know what this is," says Schablitsky, signaling the heavy equipment operator to take off another few inches of surface area. What she hoped would be a cache of artifacts turns out to be buried lines for the phone company. Butler, dressed as a 1915 school girl, had been offering a living history lesson to local schoolchildren. The education and programs coordinator was now watching history unfold before her as Schablitsky displays a piece of broken teacup with a Chinese symbol stamped in blue on the bottom. "The only thing we’re sad about is that we can’t have a real dig," Butler says. "The backhoe is really damaging artifacts." Schablitsky says she uses the backhoe for expediency and as a tool to assess the area’s artifact density. She says she’s checking carefully and going slowly — particularly on the other side of the street, where construction was stopped as soon as evidence of the Chinese settlement was discovered. "This is not an archaeological dig," she says. "This is a construction project. Not everything needs to be saved." City Administrator Paul Wyntergreen says the finds are enriching the town’s heritage. He’s disappointed that the artifacts will be going to the Museum of Natural History at the University of Oregon, instead of the Southern Oregon Historical Society. "We uncovered old flagstone curbing (on Oregon Street) and are anticipating more of the same," he says. "When it’s all said and done, we may have an archaeological dig with road construction on the side." Reach reporter Sanne Specht at 776-4497 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times