The historic Beekman House in Jacksonville. 

After a three-year hiatus, history is alive and well inside the Beekman House in Jacksonville.

It’s time to pay a visit to Ben and Carrie Beekman, son and daughter of Cornelius and Julia, along with Aunt Kate and longtime housekeeper and friend Louise Minear. They’ve come to town to offer a rare glimpse of family life in 1932 Jacksonville, and they’re ready to meet and talk with you.

Running every second Saturday through May 13, the Beekman House, at 470 E. California St. in Jacksonville, is open to callers. Four times are available: 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., and 1 and 2 p.m., and $10 tickets can be purchased at historicjacksonville.org. The tours are one-hour interactive visits, with the audience encouraged to engage the characters.

Ellen Martin, one of the players, enjoys her part. “I love sharing the lives of the people we’re portraying. I am Louise Minear, the Beekman’s family cook and housekeeper for a number of years. Louise shares with our guests about Mrs. Beekman’s funeral and favorite family heirlooms. It’s truly an honor to bring Louise to life.”

Cornelius C. Beekman looms large in Jacksonville’s history as a highly successful banker, wealthy entrepreneur and public servant. During the 1870s, before Victorian ostentation reigned, he built a modest, comfortable home for his wife, Julia, and two children, Ben and Carrie. The house still retains all the charm of the original Gothic Revivalist home. The Beekmans were its only residents from the mid-Victorian era until after WWII.

The Beekman House is owned by the city of Jacksonville. Dedicated volunteers and Historic Jacksonville, Inc. open the door to curious visitors and history buffs at various times throughout the year. Tours offer visitors an opportunity to explore different customs of the times up close and view actual furnishings and antiques that belonged to the family.

For the next four months, it’s 1932 at the Beekman’s. Ben and Carrie, along with Aunt Kate, are closing up their parents’ home and deciding what to do with the accumulations, while Louise the housekeeper continues to care for the house. Several special items remain with the house, such as the stunning Mathushek piano built from rosewood in New Haven, Connecticut by one of the greatest American piano innovators — a gift to Carrie from her father.

The Depression has not spared Jacksonville. Folks are tearing up the streets with hope of finding specks of gold to help see them through these troubled times.

Carolyn Kingsnorth, president of Historic Jacksonville, Inc., says, “Most of us learned history as names, dates, places and battles, which we memorized for the tests then promptly forgot. But that’s not what history is. It’s the people and their stories. Historic Jacksonville, Inc.’s mission is to bring Jacksonville’s National Historic Landmark District to life by sharing the stories of the miners, the settlers, the merchants, the Chinese, the opportunists and the visionaries who made the town what it is today.”