Salem in 1889

 World Events

• The Dakotas, Montana and Washington become states.
• The Eiffel Tower, tallest structure in the world, opens for the Paris World's Fair, but critics declare it as "aesthetically displeasing" .
• The Johnstown flood in Pennsylvania kills over 2,200 residents. Fires rage in both Seattle and Spokane.
• The Coca-Cola Company is organized as Pemberton Medicine Company in Atlanta, Georgia.
• The Eiffel Tower, tallest structure in the world, opens for the Paris World's Fair, but critics declare it as "aesthetically displeasing" .
• "Pizza Margherita, named for the queen, is baked in Naples, introducing that popular dish.
• New American Book: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Mark Twain

In Salem

Two Queen Anne styled business blocks are constructed this year on the west side of Commercial Street between State and Court. Walter D. Pugh designed both structures, as well as the 1895 Thomas Kay Woolen Mill.
To the south is the Bush-Breyman Block (top), jointly constructed by Asahel Bush and Werner Breyman. Initially, a store selling drugs occupied the shop on the south while a clothing store occupied the shop on the north; there were offices above. Numerous Salem professional offices have occupied the second floor, including the law offices of former chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, Benjamin F. Bonham and both Charles L. McNary and his brother, John McNary. The American Red Cross and the Camp Fire Girls of Marion County also occupied second-floor.
To the north is the Bush and Brey Block, built by Asahel Bush and Mortiz Brey. Clothing stores were there: Dalrymple's, Krausse, McVoy, The Chicago Store (as above) and others. From 1917 until 1934, Buren's Furniture and Luggage Store occupied the southern-most portion of the block. The first upstairs tenant of the Bush and Brey Block was Myra Sperry, a photographer. Sperry sold her business to Cherrington and then to Tom Cronise who also used the studio. Upstairs businesses included several printers, hemstitchers and dressmakers as well as three savings and loan companies, a dentist, a lawyer, the Salvation Army (1935-1942), the Knights of Columbus (1947-1949), and the Order of the Moose (1953-1955).

When you visit
 These buildings have changed due to additions and loss by fire.
The Bush portion of the Bush-Breyman Block was damaged by fire in 1960, and subsequently demolished. The historical photograph shows the section that burned, leaving only the entrance to the upper floor. The contemporary photograph shows the south part of the original building. Also in the contemporary photograph, a red-painted column (behind the red car) marked the original end of the building. Retail businesses still occupy the ground floor with offices above.
The Bush Brey Block had a three-window addition at the south after 1915, also designed by Walter Pugh, who used the same materials and stylistic treatment to match the existing building. Clothing stores have been consistent tenants in the addition. J. L. Busick & Sons operated a grocery store at the rear two-story location at the Court Street intersection from 1924 until 1970. From 1972 to 1998 it housed the very popular Hindquarter and Night Deposit restaurants: after-hours home to legislators, lobbyists, and professionals, and number one high school prom destination.

Other events

• The booming economy in Salem encouraged similar commercial construction downtown.  South Eldridge Block is built on the east side of Commercial in the block between Court and Chemeketa Streets, probably designed by Wilbur F. Boothby. The Italianate business block originally contained 23 bays and extended the length of the city block. It has been historically associated with several generations of the Rostein and Greenbaum families, prominent local merchants. Greenbaum's Quilted Forest continues in business there. The northern portion of the building, containing businesses of two other well-known families, the Barnes Cash Store and Fry's Drug store, was lost to urban renewal and is now the entrance to Chemeketa Parkade.
• George Williams, a Civil War veteran who lost his leg at Gettysburg, is elected mayor and will serve two years. His father-in-law is Sebastian Adams, creator of a 23-foot, illustrated historical chart being sold nationally at this time. 
• The Thomas Kay Woolen Mill Company is founded. It was the largest woolen mill in the state with 50 mill workers when, in November of 1895, fire destroyed the mill in an hour and a half. However Kay's ability and reputation brought immediate pledges for funds and the present brick mill was completed in one year. The Kay mill boomed during World War II, but unable to compete with synthetic fabrics, the mill closed in 1959. In 1964, the Mission and Mill Museum, Inc. (later Mission Mill Museum Association, now Willamette Heritage Center), was incorporated. In 1973 the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It remains one of the few North American mill museums where direct-drive waterpower is demonstrated.

• Patrick and Margaret Feely puchase land to build this handsome home at 1349 Center Street. The family continued to own this Queen Anne-styled house until 1945. Located in the NEN neighborhood, the Feely House is among the few residences of this era to remain a private residence in this neighborhood for so many years. It has been designated as a Local Landmark.

Ben Maxwell recalls from the 1889 Capitol Journal:

Whoever may pass westward toward Front Street at any time the breeze comes from the Willamette must be disgusted by the odor that arises from the decaying vegetable matter dumped over the river bank to faster and breed disease.

A Salem man, walking along 14^th Street between Chemeketa and Court Street, passed two ladies. When he stepped aside, a sidewalk board flew up and struck him in the face. The mishap threw all to the ground and all received bruises.

The price of cigarettes in Salem advanced to 10 cents a package from a nickel. The increase was a good thing since it will prevent many youngsters from buying them. At 5 cents, the little shaver could indulge in puffing, but at a dime, he would not smoke as many.

A number of Salemites attended the Mechanic’s Industrial Fair in Portland. A reporter saw a prominent gentleman throwing kisses and winking at a wax female figure on display in a principal booth.

(See Ben Maxwell’s Salem, Oregon edited by Scott McArthur, 2006)

Salem in 1874

World Events

• France and Viet Nam sign a second treaty giving France full severity over Viet Nam including the city of Saigon.
• Germans evacuate French land gained in 1871 Franco-Prussian War, however enmity between the two nations persisted.
• Hawaii signs a treaty with the U.S. granting exclusive trading rights.
• Harper's Weekly publishes a cartoon by Thomas Nast in which the elephant is first used for a symbol of the Republican political party.
• Matthew Evans and Henry Woodward patent the first incandescent lamp with an electric bulb
• Patrick Francis Healy, the first black man to receive a PHD becomes the president of Georgetown University.
• Gold is discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota leading to a rush of prospectors, led by George Armstrong Custer, although the land was owned by the Sioux.

In Salem
On the southeast corner of Commercial and Court streets, Werner and Eugene Breyman, immigrant brothers from Germany, paint white their new brick commercial establishment. The light color gives it the distinction of being the "White Corner." Their numerous retail and wholesale businesses became the largest in Oregon outside Portland. Retiring from merchandising in 1880, they turned to real estate development and loan business. Their Bush-Breyman Block, across the street, was built in 1889. The homes of the Breyman brothers were one block apart, facing Court and State Streets at Cottage Street, and were centers of social life in Salem.

Werner Breyman (1829-1916) married Isabella Watt (1833-1909) in 1853. Their only son, Carl, died at the age of ten in 1878. Their three daughters were Mrs. William (Ada) Eldridge, Mrs.William (Elva) Brown and Mrs. R. F. (Anna) Prael. Eugene Breyman (1834-1903) married Margaret E. Skaife (1839-1918) in 1864. They also had three daughters: Mrs. F.F. (Lena) Snedecor, Mrs. Reuben (Minnie) Boise, and Mrs. Charles (Jessie) McNary.

Descendants continued their involvement in Salem’s business community for over a century and a half. The Breyman brothers had an older sister, Louisa, who was married to one of the most popular gentlemen in the city, E. M. Waite. In 1897, he died suddenly of a heart attack while participating in a parade of local baseball teams. The newspaper extolled his many civic achievements and his personal qualities. His childless widow had the Waite Fountain built in Willson Park, dedicated to his memory. The three Breyman sisters-in-law are featured in an article found in the Salem Lifelines blog.

When you visit
A post card of the early 1900s shows the Commercial and Court Street intersection, looking east with the dignified "White Corner" just as you see it above. At one of our busiest downtown corners, you pass this building today without recognizing its age and past Victorian charm. The lifting of the Depression by the prosperity of the World War II caused Americans to want everything to be "modern". This commercial building was among many in Salem to be renovated in the late 1940s, removing all Victorian decorations.

Other Events

• John G. Wright is elected mayor and serves two years. Mr. Wright of Illinois was an 1853 immigrant to Oregon with his wife Caroline. Their two children, Ella and George were born in this state. He was a merchant, part owner of a hotel, school director and member of the City Council before election as mayor. He died in a local hospital in 1923 at the age of 86.
• William Griswold installed a water wheel creating a new water system that served several blocks east of High Street. From "Bits for Breakfast" by R. J. Hendricks, "Griswold also put in a water system for South Salem. He got the water from a well which he dug just south of the millpond. The tower was erected at the west end of the "agricultural works". The water was nothing but seepage from the mill pond. There was some sort of a strainer put in but it was of little value. That was over 50 years ago. Many who drank the water are still alive, so it could not have been very deadly. The system was afterward taken over by the city."
• This was not Mr. Griswold's only downtown enterprise. Salem’s first regular theater was located in the Griswold Block at the southwest corner of State and Commercial Streets. This brick structure (perhaps the first of consequence in Salem) was built by William Griswold in the mid-1850s. Griswold’s Theater was located on the second and third floors. The celebrated Julia Dean Hayes appeared here in Shakespearian roles as early as 1864. On May 20, 1868, the Irwin's presented "Uncle Tom’s Cabin", " The Drunkard," and "Angel at Midnight." In the same year, Salem’s dramatic society offered "Kill or Love" and "The Toodles" at Griswold’s Theater. Admission to the dress circle was four bits (50 cents); six bits (75 cents) reserved a seat, and two bits (25 cents) allowed one to enter the orchestra pit. According to Pioneer Cemetery records, Mr. Griswold "died in the asylum for the insane (present state hospital) here in the early ‘80's, [1900] his mind having become unbalanced on account of the loss of his property."
• To reduce public drunkenness, at least one day week, a previous city ordinance proscribed Sunday opening of any "store, shop, boll alley, billiard room, tippling house, or any place of amusement . . ." An exception to this law were grocery stores. When this was not effective, a voluntary Sunday closing law, enacted this year, gained the support of a goodly proportion of Salem's businessmen, although only a handful of the town's tavern keepers.
• Chloe Clark Willson died this year in Portland. Associated with her husband William in the founding of the city, she was also a gifted teacher in the formative years of Willamette University. Profiles are found on Salemhistory and in Salem Lifelines.