Salem in 1976

World Events

• Mao Zedong of Communist China dies after a mortality record of causing up to 70 million deaths due to executions and forced labor.
• IRA bombs explode in London. Ten thousand Protestant and Catholic women demonstrate for peace in Northern Ireland. (Irish rock band U2 is formed by drummer Larry Mullen.)
• The US celebrated its 200th anniversary. Jimmy Carter is elected as President after a Democratic convention keynote address is delivered by a first African-American, Barbara Jordan.
• "Legionnaires' Disease" strikes in Philadelphia causing 29 deaths. The Ebola virus occurs in Yambuku, Zaire.
• The (supposed) last U.S. convertibles roll out of Detroit, new Apple Company, founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
• At Uganda's Entebbe Airport, Israeli commanders free 103 hostages held by Palestinian hijackers of an Air France plane.
• Viking 2 spacecraft lands on Mars: NASA releases Mars photo. 
• Nadia Comaneci earns the first of 7 perfect scores 10  in gymnastics at the Summer Olympics in Montreal.
• Academy Awards: "Rocky" (US) and "Black and White in Color" (France). Prize-winning Books: J R, William Gaddis and Humboldt's Gift, Saul Bellow.

In Salem
A 40-year Salem controversy between a local cooperative, Salem Electric and PGE over electric power service was resolved this year, bringing underground wiring to downtown. Salem Electric was founded in 1938 by a group of West Salem residents led by Harry Read. Mr. Read stubbornly refused to limit SE's growth into downtown Salem commercial area, linking its West and North Salem service areas. During 1968, after several years of discussions, Salem Electric and PGE reached agreement on service boundaries for the Salem/Keizer area. In 1972, Salem Electric received its third point of delivery, Brush College Substation, from Bonneville Power Administration, providing a 70% increase in the co-op's available capacity. In 1975, Salem Electric's Board approved a $1 million loan to continue its acquisition of the remainder of PGE facilities and for conversion of overhead to underground facilities in the downtown area. When the project was complete, Liberty Street gained this improved appearance (seen in 2007) as part of a revitalized business environment.

When you visit
Salem Electric has moved from its former headquarters adjacent to downtown Salem. In 1968, Salem Electric had constructed a new office building and warehouse located adjacent to the old headquarters on the northwest corner of Front and Union Streets. But in 1976, the City of Salem condemned the co-op's eight-year-old headquarters as a part of its Front Street widening project. The current headquarters are on Seventh Street in West Salem.

The historic downtown, one of our most attractive civic features, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Many of the designated Local Landmark buildings have informative plaques at their entrances. For an online walking tour, please click on that image on the homepage of SHINE. For a copy of the 2011 booklet that is a guide through the history of downtown Salem, call the Community Development Department at 503 588 6173.

Other Events

• Craig Metten provides a dramatic sight for pedestrians on the ground as he scales the First Methodist Church tower during repairs. The steeple is replaced at this time. An even more startling photograph is taken looking down at Craig and the street below at the intersection of State and Church Streets.

View from Methodist Church steeple

Dining atop the Equitable Building

• The new Equitable Building at Center and High Streets, now completed, rises above the one-story businesses to the south at Chemeketa Street. This new six-floor tower has a bank on the ground floor with offices above. But the real treat is the opportunity for a downtown view from one of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Loft Restaurant on top floor. Unfortunately, the restaurant was open only a few years.
• The Oregon State Capitol undergoes an expansion this year with wings at the north and south along State Street.
• Karr's Tavern occupies the historic Boon Store; the renovation to contemporary use of this 1860 building is yet to come. The interior had the appearance of a living room in a residence. The 1846 Boon House had been removed to Mission Mill Museum property and placed on the National Register of Historic Places the year before.
• Our McNary Airfield Air Control Tower receives an award for meritorious service by the Oregon National Guard. United Airlines is serving Salem this year with regularly scheduled commercial and passenger flights.
• In August, Salem residents enjoy rides over the city in a Goodyear blimp. Refer to Oregon Historic Photographs Collection for many aerial views of Salem in 1948 and 1976.
• The Downtown Development Advisory Board is created this year. Composed of a total of 11 members, 6 presently represent the interests of business, property owners and others with interest in the Riverfront Downtown Urban Renewal Area and 5 represent the community at large. Two members represent West Salem specifically.

The Reed Opera House undergoing renovation

• A major rehabilitation of the Reed Opera House provides space for almost two dozen small retail stores in the basement and first floor. An attractive mezzanine opens the area for attractive vistas of the interior. Due to the attention being given to Salem historic preservation, the building is successfully nominated for the National Register in 1978. The Reed Opera House is featured on the Historic Downtown walking tour slide show on SHINE website.

Five neighborhood associations are organized this year:

• Morningside, which is generally bordered by Madrona and Kuebler Drive as you travel south, east of Commercial and west of Fairview Industrial Drive. Businesses line both sides of Commercial Street, but the neighborhood remains residential. It was originally an area of orchards and a few properties still reflect that history. The SHINE Morningside photograph album shows 2 Local Landmark structures moved to the neighborhood, 3 that were in orchards, a significant International style home and another associated with one of Salem's most prominent early families.
• Southeast Salem Neighborhood Association (SESNA) is located south of State Street where early middle class families as well as laborers of the Kay Mill and the railroad built their small craftsman houses 100 yeas ago.
• Sunnyslope, is a relatively new South Salem section of the city and has had little historical research. The Wingate house on Kuebler Drive is the only representative so far.
• Highland was organized by Henry Minthorn as a Quaker community. It later featured the suburban Hollywood Business area along Portland Road.
• Grant, just north of downtown, is one of our oldest neighborhoods (and the smallest), containing many historic properties. The neighborhood is working on establishing a historic district. The city maintains support of these organizations and provides information on the Neighborhoods page of the city website.

Salem in 1930

World Events

• A worldwide economic Depression begins which will last for ten years.
• Constantinople's name is changed to Istanbul in the new nation of Turkey.
• Mahatma Gandhi, practicing "civil disobedience", starts a 200-mile protest march to the sea with 78 followers to protest British control of salt. In Allahabad, a speech introduces the possibility of a new nation, Pakistan for Indian Muslims.
• The Smoot-Hawley Tariff raised taxes on 20,000 products imported into the U.S., cutting trade and deepening the Depression.
• The planet Pluto is discovered.
• 3M markets Scotch Tape, Birdseye begins sale of frozen foods and Hostess Twinkies are in the grocery store. Toll House cookie invented.
• Blondie and Dagwood is a popular comic  in the newspaper. Academy Award goes to "Cimarron". The Pulitzer Prize goes to Years of Grace by Margaret Ann Barnes.

Along our downtown Willamette River shoreline before the creation of Riverfront Park

In Salem
In 1930 the misery of Salem citizens continues to increase from cinders and soot produced in wood-burning boilers in these downtown factories along the Willamette River. The council had passed Salem’s first anti-smoke ordinance in 1923, but enforcement lagged – cinder, ash, and soot continued to fall. In 1929 the Council, acting on the advice of its Smoke Committee, hired an engineer to test to air. His tests showed "the soot-fall" over downtown Salem to average 1,400 tons per square mile annually, only Pittsburgh, PA, ranked worse. Spaulding Lumber Company and Oregon Pulp (seen in the 1950s photograph above) were found to be violating Salem’s 1923 smoke ordinance. A series of photograph taken from a Goodyear blimp in 1947 shows how the problem persisted.
Cinders and soot were not the Salem Council’s only problem as the depression began. The city council began developing a municipal water service to replace the Oregon-Washington Water Services Corp., which was delivering not only water but also "vegetable growth" to the citizens. The Council ordered livestock – especially goats and chickens – ousted from the City unless neighbors agreed to the farm animals’ presence. (This information from SalemHistory.)

When you visit

The National Clean Air Act of 1963 finally cleared the air in Salem. Downtown shoppers only had to worry about drops of rain, not ashes. The industrial area along the river was transformed in the late 1990s into our Riverfront Park. At the northern edge of the park, the recently renovated Union Street Railroad Bridge and Trestle leads pedestrians across the river to West Salem and Wallace Marine Park. South of the bridge on Water Street, there is now the Gilbert House Children's Museum. Continuing south, the park features a statue of former Governor McCall, as a fisherman, a Picnic Pavilion, play fountain for children, a Carousel, a shallow amphitheater for celebrations and community gatherings and spacious open lawns. The park ends at the Eco Ball where Pringle Creek entrance into the river. New development of the former Boise Cascade property here will daylight the creek and provide additional walking trails. A bridge from the park across to the Willamette Slough to Minto Brown Park is anticipated. A self-guided walking tour of Riverfront Park is on SHINE.

Other Events

• The census shows Salem's population is 26,266.
• P. M. Gregory was elected mayor, heading a Mountain Water Party that captures the majority of City Council seats. They promised to develop a water source on the North Santiam River. Salem's water has such a bad reputation that visiting legislators insisted on spring water at the State House. (A Capitol Journal news item of the year before confirms this: "Secretary of state Hoss, because of the complaints about Salem's obnoxious drinking water, arranged to bring Bull Run water to Salem for legislators at a cost of $2 a day for transportation. Salem's water was held objectionable because of its taste, color, and odor.") However, negotiations dragged on through the following municipal administrations and it would be 1937 before clean water from Stayton Island was delivered to Salem residents.

Methodist Parsonage in original 1841 location

• This year the Methodist Parsonage is photographed in its original location near the Kay Woolen Mill water tower. In 1958 it will be moved to Mission Mill Museum property. The Jason Lee House is still located at 960 Broadway. In 1965 it will also be moved to Mission Mill property, now Willamette Heritage Center.
• Busick's Market on North Commercial Street at Marion had these specials: 100 pound sack of table carrots, 53 cents; 100 pounds of sacked onions, 65 cents; 100 pounds of potatoes, $1.15 and three pounds of blended coffee, 69 cents.

• The Capitol Journal reported that Gov. Julius Meier had selected an apartment on the fifth floor of the Royal Court as his Salem residence during his term of governor. Meanwhile, the remodeling of his office in the statehouse would partition off a space six feet wide for a cloakroom and lavatory at a cost of $1,500. The Royal Court (built in 1927) was also the temporary home of Gov. Hatfield and was host to President Nixon when he visited Salem. The handsome apartment house, still well maintained, is seen at the intersection of Chemeketa and Capitol Streets.

• The Johnson House is built on Lincoln Street. Otto and Modjesta Johnson, original owners of this Colonial Revival house, were the owners Women's Furnishings and Goods. Owners of the house in 1949 were Robert and Hulda Elfstrom. Mr. Elfstrom was mayor of the city of Salem from 1947 to 1950; he served in the Oregon State House of Representatives during the 1950s; in 1963 he was elected to the Oregon State Senate where he served until 1971. This Local Landmark in the SCAN neighborhood is now the residence of the President of Willamette University.