SHINE is a look backward from the present to Salem's 1860 charter. In each year we have four sections: glimpses of what was happening around the world, a special event in Salem, what you see when you visit that site today, and other Salem events of interest that year.



Monday, August 17, 2009

Another member of the Salem Bush Family

On Birdshill Drive in South Salem, this 1901 house gives us another contact with the history of the Bush family in Salem. In 1911, the daughter of the owners, 21 year old Margaret Boot, married Asahel Bush IV, the only grandson of the Asahel Bush II who built Bush House.
The young couple had a home on Bellevue Street, traveled widely and were part of the "Roaring Twenties" social life. Margaret gained local acclaim for riding an elephant in a Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena. Both Margaret and Asahel died in their forties.
The house has had a progression of improvements as the prune orchard lost acres. The original entrance from the north (now City View Cemetery) led to a carriage house, since made into a residence. The barn was removed for another residence. The landscape still provides a panoramic view to the west over the Willamette River and to the coastal mountains.
Between 1952 and 2008, there were only two owners: Dilbert Milne and Hans Linde.