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41 °F 5 Day Forecast Friday, December 12, 2003 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | eSouthernOregon | 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 December 2, 2003 Since You Asked Digging deep into the past of the oldest graveyards I visited the Jacksonville Cemetery recently, and the old tombstones there got me to wondering. Where is the oldest graveyard in Jackson County? — Mort D., Phoenix The Jacksonville Cemetery isn’t the county’s oldest, Mort, but it’s certainly the best known. All those old tombstones make for fascinating reading. The city’s cemetery opened in 1859, when Margaret Love was laid to rest, but at least eight older burying grounds were identified in a 1978 survey conducted by the Oregon Department of Transportation. Ashland’s Hill-Dunn Cemetery, near Emigrant Lake, dates back to 1853. So does the Mount Vernon Cemetery (also known as the Myer Cemetery), north of Ashland. The city’s Hargadine Cemetery also predates Jacksonville’s. Advertisement Nonetheless, Jacksonville’s cemetery attracts most of the people interested in old graveyards — perhaps because of its size and its showy grave markers. More than 4,000 people, many of them early Jackson County pioneers, are buried on the hill above town. Depending on how you define "cemetery," it’s entirely possible the oldest graveyard for European settlers hasn’t been found. Two women who spent years identifying the sites of old cemeteries — Ruby Lacy and Lida Childers — found references to at least 10 early graveyards that they were unable to locate on the ground. Some of these were small family plots and the markers were probably made of wood. Both Ruby and Lida have passed on, so a new generation of sleuths will have to track down the missing graveyards. After 150 years, there’s not much left to look for. Send questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by e-mail to [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times