Did you know that the Magnolia Hotel at 245 North 5th Street in Jacksonville was built in the early 1900s as the Rogue River Sanitarium? At the time, that meant health spa. Such sanitariums were part of the “Wellville” movement pioneered by the Kellogg brothers. This approach to medicine advocated holistic treatments and vegetarianism, and such sanitariums typically focused on nutrition, exercise, and…enemas to cleanse the system. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg also created the “health food,” Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, in hopes that it would reduce what he considered unwelcome sexual impulses.
However, by the time this Spanish Revival style structure was built, Jacksonville had lost its status as the hub of Southern Oregon. The railroad had by-passed the town, and soon the county seat would be moved to Medford. When the great Depression of the 1930s hit, Jacksonville’s population was only 700 and most buildings stood empty. Jackson County began placing most of its poor in Jacksonville’s empty buildings because property values were some of the lowest in the County and there were plenty of potential caretakers among the people looking for work. The Rogue River Sanitarium was one of these “poor houses,” but it was as much hospital as sanitarium.
In the early 1950s it was purchased by Bessie Mitchell and rechristened the Mitchell Sanitarium. Bessie was a young widow with several children, two of whom were disabled and needed full-time care. Her only training had been in nursing, and the sanitarium allowed her to care for her children while securing income to support her family. According to a daughter, Bessie was an enterprising woman and had negotiated the purchase without a cent in her pocket. The sanitarium became a family operation and what a long-time resident described as a “senior guest house.”
It was converted into a bed and breakfast inn in 2007. Current owners envision tapping into some of the building’s earlier “vibe” as a place for healthy activities and retreats—but without the enemas and cornflakes!