An early barber in Jacksonville, Ore., George Schumpf, cut hair for 24 years from the time he opened his shop in a wooden building on California Street in 1873 until his death in 1897.
He trained as a barber in his native Germany. He offered Jacksonville residents the pioneer equivalent of a present-day spa. His ad in the Democratic Times newspaper offered “haircutting, shaving, shampooing, and ladies’ haircutting done to first class style.” He also sold “Dandruff Lotion,” for $1 a bottle.
Six months after opening for business, the barber shop and other tinder-dry wooden buildings on the same block and other streets burned down. Undaunted, Schumpf purchased a lot and built a one-story brick building that remains standing today.
Together with its neighbors, the Italianate building formed an arcade of eight bays. Schumpf’s shop had bathing rooms and a shoeshine stand. His customers, both men and women, could have their shoes buffed while relaxing in a hot bath, and then enjoy a shampoo and haircut, and for men, a shave.
Sources: Evans, Gail E. "State of Oregon Inventory of Historic Properties." Heritage Data, Nov. 1979, heritagedata.prd.state.or.us/historic/index.cfm?do=main.loadFile&load=39549.pdf. Accessed 24 Jan. 2020. Path: Oregon State Parks Historic Preservation Office Schumpf's Barber Shop. Kingsnorth, Carolyn. "George Francis Schumpf - Jacksonville Town Barber." Jacksonville Review, Jacksonville Review, jacksonvillereview.com/george-francis-schumpf-jacksonville-town-barber-carolyn-kingsnorth/. Accessed 24 Jan. 2020.
