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40 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, April 1, 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 20, 2004 Jacksonville history goes back to its grave By SANNE SPECHT Mail Tribune JACKSONVILLE — A week full of discovery came to a close Friday afternoon as archaeologists reluctantly ordered backhoe operators to bury remnants of the state’s oldest Chinatown. As the city’s history went back underground, the team leaders reflected on the week’s finds: Chinese copper coins, glass, animal bones, smoker’s pipe stems, pottery shards, buttons, flattened opium tins, clay marbles. All interesting, but not unexpected, they said. And to their disappointment, no structures. "We were trying to hit an area where porches were," said Patrick O’Grady, archaeologist for the Oregon Department of Transportation. "Instead, we found fairly rich deposits of unconsolidated artifacts, not oriented to a specific dwelling." The artifacts were discovered during the middle of a $3.5 million project to rebuild a one-mile stretch of Highway 238 running through downtown. The project was temporarily shut down last week when backhoe operators unearthed Chinese artifacts right under the asphalt. Advertisement On Tuesday, a team of 10 archaeologists was brought in from the University of Oregon to help dig, sift and assist O’Grady and fellow ODOT archaeologist Julie Schablitsky in locating artifacts. The archaeologists, several members of the Southern Oregon Historical Society and residents of Jacksonville hoped the newly uncovered stretch of roadway would yield significant architectural features and great caches of artifacts. Everyone wanted a peek into the lives of 1850s Chinese miners. "I’m normally down in the trenches," said O’Grady. "But it’s been like a party going from fence to fence talking to people about what we’re doing. They’re really excited." Down in one of the carefully dug trenches was Jayme Neil, programs department educator for the historical society. Wearing a safari hat and an orange vest, Neil defined her experience of digging up half a Chinese coin as "awesome." "This is an opportunity to get my hands on some artifacts right here where Chinatown was," said Neil. "I feel really lucky to be working with such great people. This is a great crew." Neil said the artifacts will be catalogued and shipped to U of O for further study. However, she said, if the historical society feels there are certain artifacts it deems significant, it can petition the university for them. "Of course we’d like to have them with us since they were found here in Southern Oregon," said Neil. During the week, archaeologist Dennis Jenkins profiled the roadbeds and made detailed notes on the striations and colors of the soils, as well as the artifacts being culled from the trenches. Jenkins said he was disappointed that most of the finds were small. "We had much higher hopes that we’d find patios and other features," he said. Jenkins said that by Thursday afternoon, he had given up on finding building foundations, but he was still hopeful a garbage pit or a cellar would be unearthed. Friday morning he resigned himself to a shut-down, joking an unexpected miracle could still extend the dig. "We’re shutting her down unless we find a muleskinner face-down in here," he said. O’Grady said Jenkins may get his chance to return to Jacksonville if further excavation uncovers another significant-looking clutch of artifacts during ODOT’s project. "We will be back to monitor the course of the asphalt removal," said O’Grady. "You just never know." Reach reporter Sanne Specht at 776-4497 or e-mail [email protected] . Railroad tracks from Chinatown discovered Besides unearthing a 150-year-old Chinatown, there was another Jacksonville discovery last week that has city officials excited. During more street work, crews unearthed railroad tracks from the old Rogue River Valley Railway at the intersection of C and Fifth streets. The railway spur was built in the mid-1800s after the railroad bypassed Jacksonville and set tracks into Medford. Historians say losing out on the railway system was a huge blow to Jacksonville’s livelihood. The city eventually lost its position as county seat. And, as the town continued to dwindle, the railway spur into Medford was a last-ditch attempt to reanimate commerce in the old mining town. City Administrator Paul Wyntergreen says all the historic tracks have been removed and are being stored until roadwork is completed. Then, Wyntergreen says, the tracks will be replaced down the center of C Street as a historic reminder. "We’ll start at the Chamber and work east (on C Street) as far as the rails go," he said. 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