The Dalrymple House was built by James J. and Mary Evans Dalrymple on Marion Street in about 1862. The family had three daughters: Jess Albert, Lizzie Krause and Kate Griffith. After the family sold the house, it was owned for many years by Ola Clark, a well-remembered math teacher at the high school. It was later rented and had been abandoned when the photograph above was taken. Kate's grandson, Dr. John Griffith, remembers the interior window shutters, curving stairway, woodwork and hardware were still original in the 1960s.
On May 10, 1972, a crane lifted a detached portion of the second floor in order to place it on the moving platform for the move to a new location. The first floor of the house is still in place and the Garfield School is seen in the background. A local newspaper reporter was there to photograph the action.
Moments later, with with a photographer looking on, the crane slipped as it was lifting the second story onto the moving platform. This was probably the most spectacular house move in Salem history. A parking lot on the northwest corner of Marion and Winter Streets is the site where this elegant Italianate residence once housed the Dalrymple family.
These three photographs are from the Oregon Historical Photograph Collections, Salem Public Library, Salem, Oregon
Below is a series of 12 historic Salem buildings that were more successfully moved to new locations.
