This is definitely worth a stop. I didn't really want to go, but my daughter was interested so we…read moremade it happen. Its AWESOME and so worth the stop. The man tending the place performed an original song first for us. Displays are very high quality. The story is compelling. The price is incredibly reasonable. The story of the Applegate Trail was really something else. What a terrible year to break trail - the same year the Donner Party had such trouble. Its worth a stop. They don't allow photography indoors, so I can't share what I saw. Go see for yourself!

We saw the sign at exit 71 on the I-5 (14 miles north of Grants Pass, Oregon) for a covered bridge…read moreand decided to see this local treasure. Covered bridges are not very common in the West. As we approached the bridge, we saw a sign for this Museum, and decided to stop in. This was the highlight of today's sightseeing! We were greeted by Dennis Gaustad. This museum is clearly a labor of love by Dennis and his sister Betty. Dennis personally greeted us, and had us sit and gave us a lecture on the history of the migration along the Applegate Trail. Dennis knows his history and clearly loves sharing it with others. We were amazed by how professional all the displays were in the museum. Many of the artifacts were locally found, and were on display courtesy of this brother and sister team. One of the displays was a 8 minute film produced by Betty, and professionally acted by locals, giving a enlightening representation of local history related to the Applegate Trail migration. Dennis clearly wants to preserve the local history, and is passionate about it. Sadly, several people came in and refused to pay a modest $5-6 entrance fee and left. They missed out on a fabulous display of local history. This museum is a treasure in this region of Oregon, and I encourage anyone interested in how the West (particularly Oregon) was settled, to stop in here and bask in the history proudly displayed here. This is the very best small museum I have ever seen. A definite MUST SEE.

FUN AND INFORMATIVE MUSEUM. If you're interested in the history of Douglas County, ancient fossils,…read morenative Americans, pioneers, or the surrounding area and you're passing through the area, you won't go wrong with a rest stop at this museum. There are all kinds of exhibits to see and touch. Mastodon and giant ground sloth bones, Native American artifacts, old farming equipment, an old railroad station, a wooden passenger train car, and much more. You can see the whole place in under 2 hours easily, and if you're in a hurry, you can skim the exhibits in less than an hour. I had an enjoyable experience wandering around the place. I also noted quite a bit of interactive stuff for kids, including an archeology dig, a "real" covered wagon, and even a faux campsite! You won't go wrong here. Bring the kids or the whole family for a fun afternoon or just an hour. Excelsior!

Great place for kids and adults! Local history (Oregon trail), Paleontology exhibits, Quilts,…read moreAutomotive, and animals! This is our second trip to the Douglas County Museum, and the kids wanted to stay longer to play with the Lincoln logs. Would definitely go again!

We took our homeschool group on a field trip here. Gary was a great host, explained so much and…read moreanswered all our questions. It was very interesting, a piece of history I never knew existed. Great for kids 8+ years, but even the younger ones seemed to enjoy it.

I stopped by here today. Went down to the end of the driveway and parked. There was a sign on the…read moredoor. Call Gary @ yada Yada if you would like to go inside. So we did, and he showed up in 5 or 10 min and proceeded to give us a great tour. It was an active jumper base until 1981. I'm glad the county did not bulldoze the site!

It was a sunny and worn Ashland morning, so Gayle and I decided to take a nice walk down to the…read moreSouthern Oregon University Campus and among other things wander through the Schneider Museum of Art. It's a relatively small space that consists of 2 large gallery spaces, plus a little bit within the entrance area, and all situated within SOU's Art School campus. There's some nice less formal displays within those buildings as well. A voluntary donation of $5 is requested at a "free will" box at the entrance to the museum. We happened upon the "Fighting Men: Golub, Voulkos, Kirby" Exhibition. Most interesting were the various comic book displays by Jack Kirby and Leon Golub's cautionary paintings that depict the violence stemming from political power gone awry. Bridging this gap are Peter Voulkos' powerful ceramic pieces. You can easily (and slowly) spend up to ~30 minutes here. I would also recommend entering and leaving the Museum on the University side, just so you can enjoy wandering around this pretty campus.

This is a small art museum on the campus of Southern Oregon University. This is a very modern and…read morecontemporary building with 4 exhibits rooms featuring different artists. It's a great stop and it doesn't matter what time of the year you visit Ashland. It is especially great on a day when it is 100 degrees F. It will definitely not break your budget to cool down while looking at some cool art because admission is free. We enjoyed looking at and comparing how each artist has their own style and that was so great for kids to understand that it's important to be yourself and that it's great that no two people or artists are the same. We came in the summer so it was very empty and parking was easy to find. I'm not sure how it is when it's school season.

Our local museum has much to see , you can't possibly see it in one visit. Military and old west…read morehistory from the pioneers that settled on this side of Little Butte Creek. Still cataloging donations and our future plans to expand are on our minds as we arrange and also hold celebrations here. The museum and the Guardians of the Museum will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1978 opening with a open house Sept 15th. Music and refreshments from 5:30-7, but you can tour all day with our resident emeritus.

I was so exited to see a library museum that was built in 1899…read more A German merchant built this home and flourished in this hellish environment. The home is preserved with original furnishings spanning the two daughters lifetimes. Pretty crazy! The museum focuses heavily on homesteading, mining and business. Its an amzing joint for most folks.

From the owner: We operate as a membership Society and concentrate on the history of Josephine County, Oregon. In…read more1960, the Josephine County Historical Society became a non-profit organization to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret local history. Our Research Library has a collection of books, manuscripts, family histories, maps, clippings and photographs. We have old newspapers on microfilm, census records, donation land claim records, cemetery information, as well as various other materials.

A very cute science museum really good for the young kids that don't want to be outside (in the…read morecold/rain). They have a lot of hands on activities (airplanes, rockets). A place that makes science fun is always a plus. It's smaller than some of the other kids museums I've been to but very reasonably priced.

We visited here on a rainy afternoon. We have 3 kids - ages 9, 6 and 2, and all three were…read moreentertained here. We spent about 1-2 hours here and we all had a good time.

Step back in time. We came here as part of a Father's day weekend visit with family. This is a…read moregreat place to go if you enjoy junking. This was the 32nd annual event. We came last year as well and it was much bigger this year. It occurs every father's day weekend, Saturday, 9am to 5pm and Sunday, 9am to 4:30pm. Parking is free and admission is $6 dollars for adults, $5 for seniors (65 and over) and kids 12 and under and exhibitors are free. There are a lot of booths with antique items that can be repurposed, lots of food trucks and booths, old engine and tractor demonstrations and tractor pulls. There is the Pottsville museum on the grounds and a small old car museum. There were even a few carnival rides. There are tractor shuttles to and from the parking lot. This is a true downtime country event. Lots of good bargains and lots of food good for any taste.

Always fun to go to! It's usually hot though! Really neat vendors and all kinds of odds n ends.read more

I really enjoyed visiting Jacksonville, Oregon. My wife and I went on a camping trip near by and on…read morethe way back home, we wanted to check out Medford, Oregon. Once in Medford, everyone was telling us to go to Jacksonville, Oregon to look at the historic building and all the fun things to do there. We redirected there, it was only about a 15 min drive to Jacksonville. The downtown area was very cute, we saw a farmers market type event setup at City Hall. We parked and walked over to check out all the things the different booths were selling. We saw lots of unique things there like woodcarvings, pictures & paintings and even some food and drinks. After a short time we continued driving through all the neighborhoods, enjoying the different types of old homes.

"Jacksonville is named for Jackson Creek, which runs through the community & was the site of one of…read morethe first placer gold claims in 1851. It includes  Jacksonville Historic District which was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1966." The gold was played out so Jacksonvlle went into a big sleep which may not have been so good for the residents at that time, but in hindsight, Jacksonville went into suspended animation thus preserving the 19th century buidings intact. Strolling along California Street is like goIng back to the 1890's. You almost expect a barber shop quartet to be singing some old fashioned tunes, or player pianos playing in a saloon. In fact one saloon, J-Ville Tavern occupying the former Anderson & Glen General Merchandise Bldg, touts itself as a "Husband Daycare Center" for wives who want a break from their spouses. The barber shop still sports an old time barber pole w/ a dome light on top. The window displays spitoons & other objects from that bygone era. Jacksonville Lumber Company on a side street does reverse chic and displays a Pink Flamingo & artificial flowers as if to slyly make a reference to John Waters' infamous cult film by the same name. We found the Cheese Monger's Wife to be a great place to get Euro style sandwiches, local Rogue Creamery Blue Cheeses, Siskyou Wild Honey, Pistola Côte du Rhône style white wine. Their cheese board was an impressive exercise in aesthetic composition. The lady owner goes out of her way to inform her customers who are curious about the gourmet products that she stocks & sells. Nice two or three hours to soak up some Southern Oregon charm with a fin de dix-neuvième siècle ambience.