Salem in 2003

World Events

• US leads invasion of Iraq, but no "Weapons of Mass Destruction" are found. Saddam Hussain is captured. President Bush and the U.S. intelligence is widely criticized in massive anti-war demonstrations.
• NATO begins peacekeeping role in Afghanistan.
• World Health Organization warns of global respiratory dangers. "Mad cow" (BSE) disease affects cattle in Washington State.
• A massive black-out in Northeastern US and Ontario Province, Canada, leaves 50 million people without electricity. Some areas were without power for a week or more due to this "software bug".
• After 27 years, Concorde makes its last flight, ending airliner supersonic travel. Service was discontinued because of excessive costs and the need to limit routes to sea lanes to avoid sonic boom over populated areas.
• Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates on entering earth's atmosphere killing all 7 astronauts aboard. (The only other fatal space accident was the Challenger in 1986.)
• The last radio signal from NASA's 1972 Pioneer 10 spacecraft is received. Outside the solar system, it is 7.6 billion miles from Earth.
• Academy Awards: "Lord of the Rings Return of the King" (US), The Barbarian Invasions (Canada). Prize-winning Books: The Great Fire, Shirley Hazard and Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides

In Salem

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were the events on everyone's mind this year, however it would be two years in the future when a graphic remembrance of that conflict began construction in Salem: the Afghan-Iraqi Memorial at the Oregon Veterans Affairs Park on Summer Street. Ironically, this year it was a symbol of peace that attracted attention in our most public arena ~ the colorful Eco-Earth globe in Riverfront Park.

Used by courtesy Salem Public Library

This sphere was originally a large pressurized tank (see above), floated up river to Salem in 1960 and used by Boise Cascade to hold acids that were used to "cook" wood chips into pulp.

 A 5-year process transformed this "acid ball" into a beautiful piece of art that includes 86,000 tiles depicting the entire globe, created by local artists and students, reflecting the diversity on land and water. On the opening day, after the playing of "What a Wonderful World" and a crane lifting off the giant cover, many children quickly moved forward to admire the colorful globe.

When you visit
The Eco-Earth stands at the south end of Riverfront Park near the entrance of Pringle Creek in the Willamette Slough. A pedestrian walkway in the park circles the structure. At the edge of the walkway, an interpretive panel gives more information about the fabrication of this artwork. The white border that circles the base of the globe identifies the mosaics.
The orange tower in the background of this 2006 photograph is one of two Boise Cascade structures that were on the opposite side of the creek when the park was created. By 2011 they had both been demolished as the renovation project continued on the Boise Cascade property that is projected as a mixed use complex with housing and retail establishments. In the distance, you see a bench and railing: that is approximately the location for the footing for the future Minto Island Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge ~ the date of construction still uncertain in 2012.

Other events

• Leading up to the invasion of Iraq, the Statesman Journal reports "On February 24, the Salem City Council voted against joining more than 100 local governments in signing a resolution opposing a possible war in Iraq. The vote climaxed weeks of local anguish about a war and emotional protests." Two local men who died in the war this year were Sgt. Donald R. Walters and Army Chief Warrant Officer Erik C. Kester. Large numbers of Oregon National Guard were deployed, worrying families and inconveniencing employers.
• Janet Taylor took office as mayor in January with three new councilors: Jim Randall, Bruce Rogers and Dan Clem. The new councilors formed a majority that reversed some of the plans of the previous council, saying they viewed growth and the business community in a more favorable light. Budget shortfalls caused the Council to approve an $83 million general fund cut limiting library hours, park maintenance and other services. Many citizens attended the Budget Meetings to express their concerns.
• The Keizer City Council approved a zoning plan for a 225-acre commercial and industrial development to be named Keizer Station. The location is near Volcanoes Stadium, off I-5 at Chemawa Road.

Extension of Capitol Mall ~ Union Street to D Street

• The North Mall Office Building is completed. The Oregon Parks Department, including the Oregon State Historical Preservation Office (Blue square), moves in. The State Archives Building (green square) was completed in 1991. New this year is Heritage Park  (black circle) at the north end of mall, creating the transition between the large state office buildings (in progress of construction since 1937) and the Grant neighborhood residential area north of D Street. Seven historic former residences have either been refurbished or moved into this area, between Summer and Winter Streets on the south side of D Street. Five of these CAN-DO neighborhood houses are Local Landmarks: McGilchrist, Adolphson, Huntington, Irwin and Stiff . Mill Creek runs through the property, making a quiet park at the rear of these small office buildings.

Heritage Park

• A contentious zoning debate was settled when voters rejected the annexation of the Hazel Hill property in South Salem at Kuebler Boulevard and I-5. The opponents warned that the proposed housing and commercial development would overload area streets with traffic.
• Salem Hospital opened an updated Emergency room, doubled in size through a $4.2 million expansion and remodeling project. Salem Hospital had the state's busiest ER.

Salem in 1923

World Events

• During a western states Voyage of Understanding (during which he placed a memorial on a Oregon Trail site), President Harding dies suddenly in San Francisco. Vice President Calvin Coolidge succeeds to the office.
• Pancho Villa, after years of battles for control of the Mexican government and military, re-emerges on the political scene, but is assassinated in Chihuahua.
• Hyperinflation in Germany rises to such a height that their paper money is almost useless. The Weimar Republic collapses.
• Vladimir Lenin rules the new Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (CCCP). Aeroflot, the earliest airline, is incorporated in Russia this year. 
• Americans continued to enjoy "Jazz Age" economic prosperity. Yankee Stadium opens in the Bronx.
• The Hollywood sign is erected above the city. Warner Brothers Pictures is incorporated. Roy and Walt Disney found the Walt Disney Company.
• George Gershwin composes "Rhapsody in Blue". The Pulitzer Prize for a novel goes to The Able McLaughtons by Margaret Wilson. Sinclair Lewis' Babbit, published the year before, is activating social comment about the emergence of a "consumer society" in America.

In Salem
The building boom continues. The downtown block between Liberty and High on Court Street takes on the present-day appearance as one of the more enduring downtown landmarks, The Bligh Building, is completed. T. G. Bligh, already a successful hotel and theater owner in Salem, bought the northwest corner lot at Court and High Streets the year before. At that time there was a one-story, wood-framed dwelling and office building owned by the Salem Elks fraternal organization. In the same year he died in an automobile accident. Franklin D. Bligh took over the family hotel and theater business and completed the one story, Mission Revival Bligh Building on an important corner of downtown. Anna Bligh owned the building until 1927. In 1926, Olson's Florist opened.

When you visit
In the 2007 photograph above, the Bligh Building (with green awning) is on the corner. Two 1909 commercial establishments are adjacent: next door is the D'Arcy Building (see Peter D'Arcy profile and his 1888 home) and to the left of that is the Meyers Building.
Frosty Olson, who created the floral business that still operates in the Bligh Building, lived at 4285 Claxter Court in North Salem. His extensive greenhouses were destroyed by the 1962 windstorm and he retired that year. His beautiful English cottage remains, but is in danger of loss due to the changing commercial needs of its Northgate neighborhood.

Other events

• I. B. Giesy becomes mayor.
• Blue Lake Beans are first planted in our area, soon becoming the best selling among all beans canned.
• Christians of Japanese heritage begin worship services at the home of Suyekichi Watanabe. By 1936 this congregation has established the Brethern Hazelgreen Church.
• Linus Pauling marries Ava Helen Miller in the home of her cousin, Nettie Spaulding on Court Street. He will win two unshared Nobel prizes: in 1954 in chemistry for molecular bonding; in 1962 the Peace Prize for work in international control of nuclear weapons and against nuclear testing in the atmosphere.
• Dr. Harvey Clements builds a Georgian Colonial house on 14th Street, the site of where Salem pioneer, Joseph Holman, had built his first, 1840s log cabin house and constructed the first bridge across Mill Creek. It can be seen in the SHINE Court-Chemeketa Walking Tour.
• The Methodist Old People's Home, built at a cost of $65,000 at Center and 16th Streets, was dedicated June 15.
• Ralph and Beryl Cooley build a home at 888 Summer Street. Ralph Cooley was employed by the Bishop's Clothing Store in Salem for over 50 years; in 1960 when he served as manager of the store, he was honored for half a century of employment. The Cooleys sold the house to the State of Oregon in 1967 as the North Capitol Mall expanded to D Street. The house was moved to a new location on Chemeketa Street and is well preserved as offices by the new owners. It is now a Local Landmark in the NEN neighborhood. (This link shows the house in both locations.)
• As his train passed through Oregon in July, President Harding suffered an attack on ptomaine poisoning and remained in bed with no public appearances. (After a partial recovery, the president has a relapse and died August 2.)
• The discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb in Egypt began an architectural fad that is evidenced in the Rufus and Letha Harris home on Stewart Street. The Mediterranean style residence is stucco decorated with cast iron acanthus leaves. Mr. Harris was a printer, coming to Salem in 1900. He worked for the "Statesman" and was at one time in charge of the State Printing Department. He served with the YMCA in France during World War I and returned to Salem in 1920, eventually returning to printing. Owners of the property after 1933 were George and Catherine Shand, Floyd and Evelyn Scott, and Rose Whitlock. This is now a Local Landmark in the CAN-DO neighborhood.
• Dr. Chester Downs build a French Provincial residence on High Street on Fairmount Hill. Dr. Down's medical career was in general practice and orthopedic surgery. After the death of his first wife, Marian in 1944, Dr. Downs married Esther Parounagian Barnes (widow of newspaperman Ralph Barnes), and they lived in the house until 1964. It is now a Local Landmark in the SCAN neighborhood.

From the Capitol Journal:

• A sad Prohibition editorial column this year lamented: "In the good old days it was wine, women and song. The wine is now gone, everyone can't sing and the women are in politics."
• More bad news: Senator Eddy of Roseburg bitterly denounced the course of high school study in Oregon before the Salem Chamber of Commerce. "Our high school graduates cannot read, or write or spell," Senator Eddy complained. "Nor can they speak the English language. I should know as I have sent four of my children through high school."
• However: Oregon's Supreme Court ruled that the ability of a teacher in the public schools of Oregon is not to be judged on a basis of that teacher's ability as a football coach.
• Another blast at the educational system: A banner headline said: "Southern Pacific Wins." Use of railroad passes by heads of educational institutions in Oregon would be taboo hereafter, the story said. Senator Strayer pointed out that legalizing such passes would throw open the door to "thousands of educators cavorting around over the state spreading their propaganda."
• Halloween pranksters raised Councilman W. F. Buckner's fence at 1370 Court Street, greased the streetcar tracks at Commercial and Wilson streets and turned over woodpiles in the neighborhood of Mrs. F. G. DeVoe's home at 1526 Chemeketa Street.