Salem in 1938

World Events

• Germany annexes Austria, France calls up reserves.
• Hitler launches Kristallnacht, Italy enacts anti-Jewish laws.
• Primer Minister Neville Chamberlain returns from Munich meeting, proclaiming he has achieved "Peace for our time." Winston Churchill calls upon America and western Europe to prepare for armed resistance against Hitler. Roosevelt appeals for peace.
• Japanese occupy Chinese cities.
• The March of Dimes is launched to fund research to combat polio.
• A Minimum Wage law is passed by Congress.
• Seabiscuit defeats War Admiral in a famous Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Joe Lewis defeats Max Scheming in the first round of Heavy-Weight boxing match at Yankee Stadium in NYC.
• Otto Hahn discovers the nuclear fission of uranium. A toothbrush is first commercial use of nylon yarn.
• A zany comedy wins the Academy Award, "You Can't Take It With You". Award-winning novels:  Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier and The Late George Apley, John Phillip Marquand.

In Salem

While the leading nations of the world line up for wider conflict on either the side of the Allies or of the Axis, Salem residents are still struggling with Depression unemployment and homeless men are sleeping in the Hotel de Minto, rooms in the police station at City Hall. There are WPA government jobs in construction, however, as the Oregon State Capitol is completed and the "Gold Man" placed atop. The Oregon State Forestry Building is also completed this year. As the new Oregon State Library is completed, the legal battle over the state condemnation of the Patton residence is resolved and that building is being prepared for demolition.

But perhaps the most fascinating for the public, and the most annoying for those who usually traveled along State Street, was the move of the Post Office. With its walls stripped of their ivy-blanketed walls, 200-ton structure was placed on rollers and, for the next six months, crept from Church Street to 12th Street and its new home. Purchased by Willamette University, it became their School of Law in 1939, named for a distinguished professor, Robert Gatke, the author of Chronicles of Willamette, the Pioneer University of the West.

When you visit
Looking back at the city as it was that year, the outstanding difference is that the City Hall is no more. That High Street building is gone, with the focus of city administration now at the Civic Center to the south, between Trade and Leslie, Commercial and Liberty streets. The Salem Public Library is part of this complex.
The Oregon State Forestry Building survives, and it is worth a visit to see the beautiful woodwork that decorates the interior. Meanwhile, on the new Capitol property, the Patton residence, as well as all the private residences formerly on Court Street are now gone.
The elegant Gatke Hall is a familiar site now, but recently has gained a new next-door neighbor, the Ford Building with a very different architecture. They both blend into the campus atmosphere that reveals the story so vital to Salem's history: the Methodist missionary effort that was the birth of the city.

Other Events

• The new Capitol Building is completed and dedicated on October 1.
• Edith Patton moves into her new home on Leslie Street, bringing with her as railings by the front door, the wrought iron that once decorated the third floor balcony of the old Cooke-Patton mansion on Court Street where her husband, Hal Patton, had lived nearly all his life. He departed the family home briefly after his 1896 marriage to Ella Breyman, but returned when she left the marriage to pursue an acting career. A second marriage in 1911 to Nellie Lucia ended with her death. He married Edith Tidcomb in 1914 and, since the couple was unable to have children, adopted two little sisters whose mother had died. Hal himself died in 1934, a year before the State House fire that led to the demolition of his home in Piety Hill. Edith died in 1971. Her house is seen on the SHINE Gaiety Hill/Bush's Pasture Park Walking Tour.
• The Salvation Army builds a handsome new headquarters building on State Street that will be their headquarters until 1968. The name can still be seen above the doorway. The structure is included in the SHINE Historic Downtown walking tour slide show on this website.
• Salem Electric Company begins service, under the leadership of Harry Read. The company has headquarters in West Salem.
• Dr. Ralph Purvine (1910-1974), son of pioneer Dr. Mary Bowerman Purvine and physician at Willamette University, establishes the Salem Clinic. In 1948 he would establish the Willamette University health Service.
• Marion County voters approve the construction of a new Courthouse, but funds are not available. Meanwhile, the spruce tree on the Courthouse lawn is decorated as the community Christmas tree, marking the 25th anniversary of the first lighting in 1913 by the Cherrians.
• With funds raised by the American Legion, Lee Eyerly purchased a five-acre plot of land on which he established Salem’s airport. By 1929, he founded an aviation school, and later, the first aircraft service station on the west coast. During the Depression of the 1930s, he took his invention, a trainer plane named the Orientator, to several fairs as an amusement ride. It became a success and was re-named the Acroplane. The last remnant of an Acroplane is now located at McNary airport on view from Turner Road. Until recently, the remains of the Acroplane have been stored at McNary Field. Its fate is uncertain.

From the Capitol Journal:

• When Governor Martin leaned on the shovel to break ground for the new million dollar state library and office building in February, a spectator exclaimed, "Don't lean on that shove, Governor, this isn't a WPA project!"
• Protests were presented to the Capitol Commission relative to sculptured figures being prepared by Leo Friedlander of New York for the new statehouse. Still living pioneers who had crossed the plains in covered wagons declared, "I never saw any pioneers who looked like that!"
• Gold leafing of the 6-ton, 24 foot high  bronze statue of a pioneer that would top the Capitol building (from a height of 171 feet), would require the services of three man for more than two weeks. The cost of the job would be about $500 considering an ounce of gold was worth $100 at that time. It would have to be reapplied every 25 years.

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

Salem in 1936

World Events

• King George V of Britain dies, succeeded by son (Edward VIII) who abdicates. His brother becomes George VI and his daughter, Elizabeth, next in royal succession to the throne.
• Rome-Berlin Axis proclaimed and Civil War begins in Spain.
• U. S. National Recovery Acts create jobs for unemployed skilled workers and artists.
• The Summer Olympics open in Berlin, Germany, and mark the first live television coverage of a sports event in world history. African-American athlete Jesse Owens wins the 100-meter dash at the Berlin Olympics, Adolph Hitler disapproves of a black man as winner.
• Franklin D. Roosevelt is reelected to a second term in a landslide victory over Kansas Governor Alf Landon. Farmers support Roosevelt.
• The first issue of Life is published under the management of Henry Luce, a weekly news magazine to be of great influence until 1978.
• Academy Award: The Great Ziegfield" Pulitzer Prize: Honey in the Horn, Harold L. Davis.

In Salem
Southern Pacific RR Underpass on Portland Rd was built by the federal government during the Depression when as many as a fourth of American families were jobless. The Works Progress Administration sponsored jobs in public construction. This new employment, while not alleviating the critical economic condition of the nation, did give new hope to many families who were in dire need. The Oregon Highway Commission received a bid of $256,502 for the four-lane underpass, then near the city's northern border. It was the state's largest and suggested the ultimate widening of the roadway to four lanes. This Highland neighborhood structure displays the architectural talents of Conde McCullough of Salem. [The Church Street ornamental bridge over Pringle Creek is probably anther one of his designs.] This underpass, enhanced with wrought iron filigree and concrete towers, echoes his bridges along the Columbia River.

When you visit
Any drive north on Portland Road that goes though the former Hollywood District and on to the Kroc Center, or to the intersection with I-5, will carry you under the railroad track and sometimes, under the train itself. The underpass is decorated with filigree and designs in concrete that are rarely seen by the motorist. The North Gateway Redevelopment Advisory Board is currently working with City of Salem Urban Development Department to improve lighting in this RR underpass. The Board meets at 8 a.m. the first Thursday of each month at 350 Commercial Street NE. The public is welcome.

Other events

West Salem City Hall

• West Salem builds a substantial City Hall that outlives the Polk County city itself: this community became a part of Salem in 1947. Chemeketa College held classes here in the early years of the school. The building is now on the National Register of Historic Places (1989).

the Strickfadden House

• Polly Strickfadden, an interior decorator, designed an unusual French Provincial style house on market Street. Her husband, Charles H. Strickfadden was manager and later president of the Capital Lumber Company, a pioneer in the production of presto logs. The Mill was also located in North Salem, on North Cherry Avenue. After it burned, it was not rebuilt, however the old log pond is visible at Cherry Avenue across from the industrial park. After she was widowed, Mrs. Strickfadden continued to live in the house until her death in 1975. This is a designated Local Landmark in the NEN neighborhood. (Since this picture, the house has been repainted.)
• White's Restaurant on South Commercial Street opens. Charles and Myrtle White, and their sons Bob and Kenny, created and managed this family-style restaurant. For 50 years it was run by the extended family, then the ownership passed to Don Uselman. Dining here continues to be a traditional experience, reminding diners of the décor and menus of restaurants enjoyed three generations ago. It is still a lively place to have a good old-time breakfast or lunch in an atmosphere typical of the informal, friendly spirit of 1930s dining. It is in the SCAN neighborhood.
• The Judson House is built this year on property that had belonged to this pioneer missionary family for 100 years and was their farmland. Lewis Hubbel Judson came to the Salem area as part of the "Great Reinforcement" to the Methodist Mission in 1840. Another noted resident was a grandson, Lewis Edward Judson who lived his entire life in this location. He was a noted local historian who wrote many articles about early life in the Willamette Valley. The property passed from the Judson family in 1980.This is a designated Local Landmark in the SCAN neighborhood.

From the Capitol Journal:

• R. J. Hendricks, Salem newspaperman for half a century, told the Chamber of Commerce that he made some of his bitterest enemies by advocating an ordinance prohibiting livestock and poultry from running at large in the street and by advocating an inter-county bridge across the Willamette. Several large fortunes, Hendricks recalled, had their foundations in the ferry business at this crossing.
• State Capitol Construction Commission awarded  $2,006,137 contract for building Oregon's new statehouse to Ross B. Hammond, Inc. of Portland. A marble exterior would follow a design in the prize plan submitted by Trowbridge and Livingstone, associated with Francis Keally, New York architects.
• The Federal Works progress Administration approved an expenditure of $13, 834 in improvements of Salem's abandoned municipal auto park. Landscaping, rock work and riprapping was to be undertaken to employ 50 men for four months.
• Nelson Brothers offered a free airplane ride with Lee Eyerly for each paint job of $25 or more during August.
• Johnny "Scooter" Oravec's famous No. 11 football sweater will be placed among other Willamette University treasures and never worn again by a football player. This year Johnny completed the fourth year of football and was regarded as the university's outstanding man in athletic history.

Salem in 1902

World Events

• British Royal Navy Capt. Robert Scott (with a marine and scientific team) will spend the year on the Discovery Expedition exploring the Antarctic.
•  General Leonard Wood, the U. S. military governor, calls for a Cuban constitutional convention by which it gains its independence this year.
• Mt. Pelee on the north end of Martinique erupted in worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century, killing about 30,000 people.
• The British build a Nile Dam (now the Lower Dam) to control flooding.
• The Gramophone Company in Milan sells a million Eric Caruso records.
• The first Rose Bowl football game (Michigan vs Stanford) is played in Pasadena, California.
• The first Trustee meeting of the proposed Carnegie Institute is held in office of the U.S. Secretary of State in Washington, D.C. This is one of over 20 institutions Andrew Carnegie founded around the world to promote art, science research, education, and international peace.
• Notable new books: The Pit by Frank Noris and Hound of the Baskervilles by Conan Doyle. For children: Just-so Stories by Rudyard Kipling and Tales of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter.

In Salem
Here are our mail carriers posing on the delivery side of the new Federal Post Office, located between Church and Cottages Streets, just behind the Marion County Courthouse. The lawn in this photograph is along Cottage Street. The City Hall may be seen to the right, on the south west corner of High and Chemeketa Streets.
Thirty years later, the Post Office was entirely covered in ivy. In 1938, when a new post office was planned, this structure was sold to Willamette University. The stone building, minus the ivy, was put on rollers and moved east on State Street to the campus where it was deposited on a corner near 12th Street. The move took six months.

In its new location, this beautiful Post Office building became Gatke Hall, named for a distinguished professor, Robert Moulton Gatke, author of "Chronicles of Willamette, the Pioneer University of the West." You see the front of the building here or as you pass it on the SHINE "Salem in Oregon History" Walking Tour.

Other Events

• Salem's hop industry is booming: American Hop and Barley Co of London has an office in the Bayne Building. George Bayne had commissioned architect, William Christmas Knighton to design this building that has housed numerous retail stores and food-related business such a bakery and the Little King Restaurant. One of the most enduring is the OK Barber Shop in the western half of the ground floor: it preserves the history of the building with an appropriate atmosphere. This building is designated a Local landmark and is featured in the SHINE Downtown Walking Tour.
• Thomas Cronise, one of Salem's most gifted photographers, opens a studio in the Bush-Breyman Building on Commercial Street. In 1882 he had arrived in Salem and opened his own print shop, however, an allergy to printer's ink eventually forced Cronise to quit the printing business. In 1892, Anna Louise, Cronise's sister, moved to Salem and introduced him to photography. By 1893, Anna had bought a photo studio at the corner of State and High Streets. Anna and Thomas Cronise hired a young photographer named Howard Trover, who married Anna. The Cronise upstairs studio had a back room where the usual array of photographic equipment, backdrops and props were located. But the room had a skylight that allowed diffused north light to provide the soft, natural illumination so essential to fine portraiture. Cronise died in 1927, and his wife Nellie operated the business until her passing in 1930. His son, Harry, operated the business until 1972.
• The Fawk House is built on at 310 Lincoln Street on a prominent corner overlooking Lincoln and Fir Streets. It has a Dutch Colonial gambrel roof and a unique stone chimney that serves three rooms inside. Henry Fawk was a well-known contractor and livestock broker. Eventually, this was the boyhood home of Ross McIntyre, Surgeon General of the United States and physician to President Franklin Roosevelt. This SCAN neighborhood residence is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ira and Hattie Erb House

• Ira Erb came to Salem in 1890 from Ohio. He was a Civil War veteran and made his living as a carpenter. He met his wife, Hattie, after he arrived in Salem and they are recorded as living in their Queen Anne cottage on 19th Street home this year. He worked many years for various contractors, including Front Street businesses. He became a partner with Clarence Van Patton in a contracting business not far from home at 21st and Mill Streets. After she became a widow, Hattie Erb continued to live here alone until her own death in 1941. After forty years, this house was sold. It is now a Local Landmark in NEN neighborhood.

From the Capitol Journal:

• A state law provided that unclaimed bodies from the asylum, penitentiary and poor farm be apportioned among the medical schools. Salem's medical school at Willamette University received about 25 cadavers a year. Dissecting rooms were located near the millrace. Bodies injected with arsenicals lasted from three to six weeks.
• An editorial stated: "No matter which faction controls the state convention or the legislature, the state has got to be cleaned up from the top to bottom."
• Councilman Russell Catlin, lately returned from Kansas, reported that seven cars of immigrants headed for Oregon were attached to the train that carried him homeward.
• Use of Salem's fire bell for alarms was dispensed with.Alarms would be sounded by the newly installed fire whistle. Toots from the whistle indicating the ward in which the fire was located.
• A new city charter proposal would limit the number of saloons, forbid the use of barbed wire for fencing. penalize the dumping of rubbish in Salem's streets and stop chickens from running at large in streets and alleys.
• In December, Charles Allen, Salem mail carrier, lost his horse and narrowly escaped drowning when he attempted at dusk to ford swollen and treacherous Mill Creek near Winter Street.
• (See Ben Maxwell's Salem, Oregon, edited by Scott McArthur, 2006)

Moving Salem History #12 of 12

The three historical photographs in this feature are reproduced from the Oregon Historical Photograph Collections, Salem Public Library, Salem, Oregon.

The 1903 photograph above is from the Ben Maxwell Collection shows the 1872 Marion County Courthouse in the foreground (demolished in 1952 for the current building) and the 1876 State House (which burned in 1935) in the distance. Between these is the Federal Post Office which had just been built shortly before this picture was taken.

The photograph above was taken in the 1930s when ivy had covered the Post Office.

Our third photograph was taken in 1938 when the 200-ton Post Office was in transit, on rollers, to its new location on the campus of Willamette University, four blocks to the east on State Street. Only the remnants of the ivy can be seen and a few of the awnings. The move took about six months.

Here the Post Office stands in its second career as Gatke Hall of Willamette University. The elegant building retains its original architecture of more than a hundred years ago.
These twelve examples of local historical preservation illustrate the beautiful craftsmanship of past architectural styles. We are fortunate to live among these echoes of Salem history.