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47 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, May 10, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 16, 2005 The Jacksonville museum building formerly was the Jackson County Courthouse, built in 1884. The county seat was moved to Medford in 1927. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Britt exhibit will present picture of how things were, and will be By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Peter Britt probably would feel right at home when the Jacksonville Museum reopens at 10 a.m. Jan. 29. Inside will be the photographic gear with which he skillfully captured much of the region from the 1850s through the end of that century. There also will be many artifacts from his Jacksonville home, including the square grand he bought for his daughter, Molly Britt. "Peter Britt: The Man Beyond the Camera" will be the main exhibit in the museum, which has been closed since Dec. 31 while the Southern Oregon Historical Society moves its administrative offices from downtown Medford. In addition to his breathtaking photographs, which included the first-ever shots of Crater Lake, the Swiss immigrant was known for his portrait paintings and keen interest in viniculture and gardening. Advertisement "We’re bringing Peter Britt back to Jacksonville," said SOHS Director John Enders. "We’re doing it in a more high-tech way. We’ll have a flat panel DVD display, an on-line hard drive with hundreds of photographs. "We’ll have a dedicated Web site with a virtual exhibit on-line," he added. "If you are in Switzerland, you can take a look at it." The permanent display, which will fill a large downstairs room, reflects the society’s interest in moving away from using dioramas, Enders said. "Our goal is to restore the old courthouse to its former elegance and glory," he said. "As we go from room to room and redo exhibits, we’re restoring the original look of the old courthouse." Built at a cost of $32,000, the building served as the county courthouse from 1884 until the county seat was moved to Medford in 1927. SOHS expects to complete the move of its administrative offices to the museum in the next two to three months, Enders said. Its History Store already has been moved into the ground floor of the museum. Visitors will be able to pick up everything from books on local history to T-shirts featuring historic aspects of the region. However, the SOHS research library will remain open to the public at the History Center, 106 N. Central Ave., pending a decision by the city of Medford about what it will do with the old Carnegie library building. "Our hope is we could move our research library into the old Carnegie library and keep a presence in Medford," Enders said. The Carnegie building was vacated when the new Central Library was completed in April. The historical society also hopes to either lease or sell the History Center, he said. It has been listed at $2.1 million for the past year with little interest from buyers so far. The society will continue to maintain its museum buildings as well as the historic Beekman House in Jacksonville and Hanley Farm near Central Point, Enders said. The Peter Britt display represents the artifacts owned and maintained by the society, he said. A fireproof, humidity- and temperature-controlled storage facility in White City houses 20,000 square feet of historic items SOHS has collected over the years, he said. "The Southern Oregon area has a tremendous colorful history from the pioneer settlement era," he said. "And before that, it had been settled by Native Americans for hundreds and hundreds of years. We have a Clovis point from the area that is 10,000 years old. "We have an amazing collection, both three-dimensional artifacts and two-dimensional documents," he added. For further information about the Southern Oregon Historical Society, including membership, check out the SOHS Web site at www.sohs.org or call the office at 773-6536. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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