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Cave mystery resolved Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Retired brewer Hubert Smith, of Jacksonville, looks into the opening of a man-made "cave" on the Britt hillside. Though there has been much debate over its origins, Smith believes it was a chamber for storing beer. An 1888 fire insurance map confirms it served as a small reservoir for a brewery operated by Veit Shutz. By J.T. BUSHNELL JACKSONVILLE - The brick-lined "cave" on the Britt hillside next to California Street was originally part of a 19th-century brewery, according to a fire insurance map from 1888. After being exposed in 1958 when the building was demolished, the hillside opening now looks like a man-made cave, prompting quite a bit of interest among Rogue Valley residents and tourists. "I always thought we should have a plaque or something there, because so many people are interested," said Carol Harbison-Samuelson, library manager at the Southern Oregon Historical Society. The fire insurance map shows that the hollow served as a small reservoir for Veit Shutz's brewery, to which it was adjoined. Shutz most likely used it as an aging cellar for the beer, Harbison-Samuelson said. Hubert Smith, a retired brewer living in Jacksonville who has researched the brewery extensively, agreed the chamber was used for storing beer. Peter Britt, a locally famous 19th-century photographer whose estate was on the hillside, also stored wine in the brewery, as evidenced by photographs at SOHS. It is not apparent, however, where in the brewery the wine vats were stored. Smith, who published an article in SOHS's Table Rock Sentinel in 1991 outlining the history of Shutz's brewery, said the reservoir's placement in the hillside was essential to Shutz's lager. Before Shutz arrived to the area, Smith said, thirsty residents enjoyed only ales. The underground chamber allowed Shutz to mature his lager in a cool environment, achieving a cleaner product than the ales, which were quickly matured under warm conditions. The brewery closed after Shutz died in spring 1892. It apparently sat vacant, except for a short stint as a classroom in 1907 while a new schoolhouse was being built, until it was razed. The origin of the reservoir has been under debate in the "Since You Asked" column of the Mail Tribune. Bill Alley, senior historian at SOHS, originally answered that the chamber used to be a cistern that Britt used to store water. After responses from readers pointing out that water would run out of a cave, Alley explained that the cistern was attached to the brewery and that there was a wall on the side that is now exposed. He also pointed out that the term "cistern" may have been misleading, and that his dictionary defines a cistern as "an artificial reservoir for storing liquids." Both Harbison-Samuelson and Smith said they believe the chamber was not used to store water. The fire insurance map shows a flume, or water channel, running into the basement of the brewery, where it most likely turned a water wheel to supply the mechanical power necessary for brewing. Because of this, Harbison-Samuelson and Smith think the water came from someplace above the basement chamber. "One principle of brewing is gravity," said Smith. "Everything is very heavy, so you want to use gravity to move everything it can, especially in the 1860s." After Alley's explanation, Jacksonville historian Larry Smith called the Mail Tribune and argued the reservoir was used exclusively as Britt's wine cellar and said that Britt owned the brewery. Efforts to contact Larry Smith for this story were unsuccessful. After the Mail Tribune published that response in the "Since You Asked" column, Hubert Smith, who retired from brewing in 1996, sent a letter stating the cave is what remains of Shutz's lagering cellars. Reach reporter J.T. Bushnell at 776-4468. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.