Salem in 2014

World Events

• The Panama Canal celebrates its 100th anniversary.
• Robust global production causes oil prices to plummet, pleasing US drivers with lower cost for gas.
• Ukraine explodes into violence as Pro-Russian and Pro-European supporters clash.  Russia intervenes militarily and annexes Crimean Peninsula. The Dinetsk Peoples Republic declares independence.
• Malaysian airline shot down over Ukraine with loss of 295 on board.
• Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa begins, infecting 28,000 people.
• Belgium becomes the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia for terminally ill patients of any age.
• A Sunni militant group, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) attempts to overthrow the Shite government, gaining control of Mosul and conducting a religious massacre in Sinjar.
• A referendum in Scotland results in a vote to stay as a part of the UK.
• Oregon passes Measure 91, legalizing the non-medical cultivation and uses of marijuana.  Sales to be legal from licensed dispensaries.
• President Obama thaws relations with Cuba, future travel possible.
•  Academy Awards: "Birdman" (US), "Ida" (Poland), Prize-winning books: Redeployment, Phil Klay and The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt.

In Salem

Howard Hall shortly before it was demolished

• In July, the Salem City Council voted to overturn a decision made by the city's Historic Landmark Commission by a vote of 8-0. The question was one that had engaged public opinion for the last several years: whether to demolish the last building of the former Oregon School for the Blind, the Local Landmark known as Howard Hall. Salem Hospital had purchased the property when the school closed and the other buildings had been demolished in order to expand hospital facilities, but this last building had special value to former students who used it as a dormitory and classroom. It was in poor condition and the hospital claimed to have no use for it. When hospital representatives made the case before the Historic Landmarks Commission, the hospital plan was rejected.  The City Council then, in a specially called meeting. took up the question on behalf of the hospital administration and overruled their own commission, composed of members selected by the Council for their expertise in historical preservation.

When You Visit 
 The site on the corner of Church and Mission Street is now the location of an elaborate play yard designed especially for children who have physical limits. It is fenced to keep children safe, despite its being close to traffic. There is interpretive signage to recognize the former school for the blind.

Other Events

• A group of citizens who would later become Progressive Salem recruited a local lawyer, Tom Andersen, to run for the City Council. He lived in the ward that included the politically active Gaiety Hill-Bush's Pasture Park Historic District. The property use in question for the former Oregon School for the Blind is adjacent. The Progressive campaign was funded by people, not business interests, using individual funding and door-to-door contacts with voters. The result can be read here. 
• A downtown historic building enjoyed a better fate than Howard Hall. The McGilchrist Building, along with the accompanying Roth Building were completely renovated during more than a year of careful construction, removing the non-historic elements and preserving the exterior charm of the 1916 structure. Before and after photographs show the difference as color highlights features of the windows and the corner entrance becomes more prominent.

 

•  Another state-owned, local National Register historic site was the subject of local discussion and controversy. At the Oregon State Hospital, two buildings on the campus were planned for preservation: one was the Kirkbride (already described) and Building 60 (below)

• Perfectly preserved, this small structure is thought to have been an infirmary at one time. When the cremains of long ago inmates were discovered in a neglected condition, it was determined to preserve them in an artistic setting. Building 60 was chosen although it would require removing one wall, changing the historic significance of the building. This decision was appealed unsuccessfully and the project was completed. See below.

• The Historic Landmarks Commission establishes the Heritage Neighborhood program to encourage residents to learn about the history of their neighborhood and to engage in our City's historic preservation efforts. Grant is the first neighborhood so recognized.
• The Commission also awarded a Historic Preservation Award to a gentleman who generously donated to both the Historic Residential Tool Box Fund and to the restoration of the Baggage Depot, leveraging more than twice that amount for restoration of local historic resources.
• This year, the First Citizen award was presented to Jim Brenau, the founder and president of the Willamette Valley Winery. This vineyard along I-5, south of the city,  is among the many local vineyards attracting tours and individual visitors.
•  City parking meters downtown were under controversy: the two hour limit was abolished, then a new three limit was established.
• A local teacher, Julie Wojcicki, won one of five national Milken Educator Awards ~and was presented with a check for $25,000.
• In October, Cylvia Hayes, engaged to Gov. Kitzhaber and considered "First Lady" of the state, was revealed to have previously contracted a "sham" marriage to an immigrant so he could retain residency in the US. There was also an ethics commission inquiry into her work as a private consultant.

Salem in 1917

World Events

• Woodrow Wilson is inaugurated for the second time. Public opinion turns toward entry in the war on the side of Britain and its countrymen that many Americans feel most relation in family and culture.
• On April 6th, the US Congress declares war with Germany and General Pershing arrives in France with "Doughboy" infantry soldiers of the American Expeditionary Force.
• Tsar Nicholas II abdicates his throne, Grand Duke Michael refuses it and power passes to the Provisional Government.
• Mata Hari is executed by the Allies as a spy.
• Danish West Indies is sold to U.S., later renamed as U.S.Virgin Islands.
• Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first women to serve in the US House of Representatives.
• Dixieland Jass Band records "Livery Stable Blues", the first jazz recording.  "Tiger Rag" follows in a few months.
•  The first Pulitzer Prize recognition goes to Laura E. Richards and Maud Howe Elliot for biography:  Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910 Complete.

In Salem
Charles Linza McNary graduated from Stanford University and Willamette University College of Law. His 1914 bid for the State Supreme Court fell one vote short, but it made him available to be appointed to the U.S. Senate in 1917 when Senator Lane died. A progressive Republican, he supported many New Deal measures such as Social Security and TVA. As Minority Leader for the Republicans in the Senate during the New Deal years, he was frequently consulted by President Roosevelt and was credited with preserving the influence of his party He played a major role in obtaining government funding for Bonneville Dam and won a fight for federal forest program, In 1902, McNary married Jessie Breyman who died in an automobile accident near Salem in 1918. In 1923 he married Cornelia Morton. In 1940, he briefly campaigned for president and only reluctantly accepted the vice presidential nomination with Republican presidential candidate Wendell Willkie in 1940, losing to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Henry Wallace. He died of pneumonia in 1944.

When you visit

McNary home (center) seen during Cherry Festival, year unknown.

Senator McNary was born on a farm near Salem. There are no McNary residences remaining in Salem: his home on Court Street (above), between the Eugene Breyman residence and the YMCA, was demolished. An undated Cherry Festival newspaper photograph (see link) was taken on Court Street near the McNary home and records its appearance. It is symbolic of McNary's relationship with the Breyman family. Charles McNary is remembered in Salem today for two sites. In 1944 the City Council voted to give the Municipal Airport the name McNary Field because he had helped secure federal assistance and cooperation in developing the airport and securing its designation as an army air base during World War II. A high school in the NOLA Neighborhood is also named for Senator McNary

Other Events

• Walter Keyes is elected mayor and will serve two years.
• In the Senate Office Building on a day in July, blindfolded men drew capsules baring draft numbers for enlistment into the Army. In this district, the name of George DeSort (De Sart?) of Silverton was first drawn. By October, Salem was prepared to turn out to welcome Co. M (the local National Guard unit) home from Camp Clackamas. This would be their final home visit before being ordered south, and later to France. (These military items from Ben Maxwell's Salem, Oregon, edited by Scott McArthur, 2006.)
• Beginning this year and until 1927, Salem King's Products has successful packinghouse on Front Street in the present Truitt Brothers facility.
• The Farrar Building is constructed on 325 State Street. The Midget Market was one of many shops occupying space here. From 1930 through 1981, the store to the east was the Smoke Shop, not only selling cigars, but serving food and drinks at a counter. Billiard and cards were played in the back. It became a community institution, serving farm and transient laborers in the Salem area, offering help in temporary shelter and credit. There is also a 1992 photograph. The Farrar Building is a National Register property in the Historic Downtown District and is featured on the SHINE downtown walking tour slide show.

Old Swengle Street farmhouse

• East of Salem, a farmhouse is built on the Pollard Donation Land Grant. This modest Swengle Street residence is possibly the oldest house in the present ELNA neighborhood. No information is available about its first owner.
• In contrast, William McGilchrist. Jr. builds a spacious Colonial Revival home at 695 Summer Street, representing a style of residential architecture popular at that time. In its original location, this was the home of Governor Robert D. Holmes, 1957-59. It was moved north on the same street due to the construction of state buildings in the 1990s. As seen in a recent photograph taken for "Salem's Moving History", the present exterior remains faithful to the original appearance except the shutters at each window have been removed.

McGilchrist House in its new location

• The interior of this Local Landmark is especially interesting because the rooms have retained their proportions although the functions have changed. The ground floor had a generous parlor and living area on the south side with dining, kitchen and servants quarters on the north. Upstairs were the typical four bedrooms and one bath. The fireplaces, built-in cabinets and ceiling light fixtures appear original. The basement, with laundry, storage and wood room, is missing in this new location.
  Currently, it houses a state office in the North Capitol Mall Heritage Park. A photograph is featured on "Salem's Moving History."

Salem in 1916

World Events

• More than a million soldiers die in the battle of the Somme, July~November; there are 60,000 British casualties the first day.
• British military campaigns fail against Ottoman Empire in the Mid-East: troops are evacuated from Gallipoli after trying to capture Istanbul and are defeated in Mesopotamia ~ now Iraq.
• Pancho Villa leads raiders into Columbus, New Mexico, killing 12 US soldiers before the Mexicans are driven away by the 13th Cavalry.
• President Wilson narrowly defeats Republican Charles E. Hughes in election.
• Wilson signs legislation creating the National Park Service.
• In Seattle, William Boeing incorporates Pacific Aero Products (later renamed Boeing).
• Jazz is a rage with American dancers.
• New American Books: Chicago Poems, Carl Sandburg; The Genius, Theodore Dreiser (suppressed by New York authorities until 1923), and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce. This book and Dubliners (1914) secured the author's foremost place in modern literature.

In Salem
This 1916 house was built for Minnie Downing, secretary to Attorney General George Brown and to Oregon political leader, I. H. Van Winkle. It was also home to her stepfather and mother, Colonel John H. and Florence Cradlebaugh. Miss Downing and her mother lived in the house into the mid 1930s. Lowell and Jean Kern purchased the house in 1937 and asked Salem architect Clarence Smith to add a new small entry porch. Later residents of the house were Willamette University president Bruce Baxter and Willard and Margaret Marshall; Mr. Marshall was mayor of Salem 1963-5.

When you visit
This is a private residence in the Fairmount Hill area of the SCAN neighborhood. It is pleasant to walk in this residential area west of Commercial Street, between Leffelle and Rural Streets. The area was recently considered for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, but the project has been set aside for the present by the wish of the residents. The Downing house has been designated as a Local Landmark. Mr. Marshall resigned his position as mayor due to ill health. In recognition of the many contributions to Salem by Mr. Marshall, there is an annual award given in his name to an outstanding citizen volunteer.

Other events

• Oregon military troops leave the 12th Street SP railway station again: this time for duty in Mexico. The 16 month campaign against Pancho Villa was unsuccessful: General Pershing returned the US to lead the AEF to France and Villa retired to his hacienda where he died in 1920.

1930s: McGilchrist Building (left) and Bligh Building (demolished by fire in the 1940s).

• At the northeast corner of Liberty and State Streets, the McGilchrist name is inscribed in bas-relief on the upper level on their building constructed this year. The son James established a furniture, restaurant and real estate business. He became the first Capitol guide, a position he held until 1953. There is also a 1950s photograph of the McGilchrist Building.
• Near the same corner, where Cooke's Stationary is now located, the George family owned the White House Restaurant from 1902 to 1931 (with McGilchrist ownership 1907-11). An interior photograph features the center counter for dining: tables were at the right side. In an exterior photo, the men in suits are Levi (Lee) George next to twin brother William P. (Will) George. Sr. In the center is Martin Nelson, head waiter, and on the far right Jesse George, brother of Lee and Will.

• Established just two years before, the YWCA moves to quarters on the second floor above Woolworth’s. The first younger girl’s work starts there in April of that year and such projects as housing, clubs, employment and classes are started.
• Only remnants of the original Hughes/Durbin building at 160 Liberty Street remain. In the 1920s it became the home of Salem’s J.C. Penny store and remained so for the next several decades. It is more recently remembered as the Metropolitan, a variety retail store. After a recent renovation (2008), it now houses condos on the top floors.
• The Wallace and Mabel Moore building at 409 Court Street is identified today by a permanent green awning of the florist that occupies the building. Mr. Moore owned a furniture store and other properties. The family suffered a tragedy when one of their two daughters, Dorothy Moore Long, died with her husband in a 1937 auto accident. Mr. Moore died four months later. In 1947, Mrs. Moore sold this property to her daughter, Mabel Lucille Knapp who retained ownership into the 1980s. These are all featured on the SHINE Historic Downtown Walking Tour slide show.
• The Deaconess Hospital, Salem’s second hospital, is founded by members of the Mennonite church. The hospital began with 12 beds housed in the old Salem Hotel on Winter Street. The wooden building had a tower and wing attached to the rear. This structure was absorbed by the growth of Salem Hospital that now occupies Winter Street between Mission and Bellevue Streets.
• Beyond city limits, in the present NESCA neighborhood, the handsome Colonial Revival Vinyard House was built this year on farmland that extended from the present Center Street north to "D" Street. The original owner of the property may not have been Dr. Vinyard. He is the first recorded at this address and his widow lived there until 1956 when Nina Bilyeu's husband purchased the house. She remembered when the acres across Center Street were open fields with grouse and pheasant.
• Also in North Salem, an 1890 farmhouse on Summer Street is remodeled in 1916 for Francis N. Woodry and his wife Medora who lived there until 1947. Edward A Randle, president of the Randle Oil Company, owned the home for the next 34 years. After many years of neglect, this handsome house has recently (2008) been restored by new owners.
• The Business Men's League of the Salem Commercial Club went on record in favor of the city vacating streets along the Willamette riverfront, necessary to bring a $500,000 paper mill to Salem. This industry, owned by Charles K. Spaulding, brought employment to the city for many years after this date. It also brought significant pollution, something no one considered in the era, and contributed to the disappearance of an ancient Indian cemetery on the site.

Salem in 1909

World Events

• China gives Japan railway concessions in Manchuria. Ito Hirofumi, four times Prime Minister in Japan and Resident General of Korea, is assassinated in the Harbin Railway Station in Manchuria.
• Albert I succeeded his father, Leopold II, as ruler of Belgium. He would prove to be a far different ruler than his father: sincerely religious, brave in defending his people in the WW I German invasion, promoting universal suffrage and education.
• British explorer Ernest Shackleton with his Nimrod Expedition reaches near the South Pole, but must turn back due to dwindling supplies.
• Robert Peary, Matthew Henson and four Inuit guides come close to North Pole. Henson actually came closest and planted the flag.
• Republican William Henry Taft is elected 27th. President of the U.S. after serving as Governor of the Philippines, U.S. Attorney General and Secretary of War.
• General Motors is founded by William C. Durant in Detroit, selling various assembled automobiles under different brand names.
• The NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is founded.
• New American Books: Exultations, Ezra Pound. Girl of the Limberlost, Gene Stratton-Porter, and Three Lives, Gertrude Stein.

In Salem

 Garfield School, designed by Fred Legg, is constructed at 528 Cottage Street following the American Renaissance style typical of schools built at that time. By 1959 it was the oldest school building in the district: Superintendent Schmidt suggested it be closed because of fire dangers. However, parent protests against closing this neighborhood school kept it open until 1973.

When you Visit

At that time, a zone change by the Planning Commission allowed it to be renovated and used as an office building. It was listed on the National Register in 1981.The school has retained its original appearance, and thanks to its being designated on the National Register of Historic Places, it may be shared the demolition that has doomed other buildings of that time. Its interior has been completely renovated, abolishing the classrooms, and is used for offices.
During the summer, many Salem residents enjoy shopping at the Saturday Market, just to the east, and park in the lot that once served the school itself.

Other Events

1915 Salem Police Department

• In 1909, Salem's Police Department lost it only officer killed in the line of duty.  Thomas M. Eckhart was 45 years old and the father of 5 children when he arrested George Meyers who had stolen a horse. While being led away to jail, Mr. Meyers pulled out a gun and shot Officer Eckhart. The Meyers conviction for murder was overturned and there is no evidence of any further incarceration at the state penitentiary. Neither our Police Department nor his family has any photograph of Officer Eckhart, although possible the men in the photograph above probably served with him. Mr. Eckhart had previously served Chief of the Salem Fire Department, resigning in 1901. He is buried in Pioneer Cemetery beside his wife Rose. More information from that website is here. His name is inscribed at National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C. Here is enlargement of his name.
• Recent additional information from Brian Goforth, Thomas Eckhart's great-grandson: "Following the second trial, Meyers was sentenced to the Oregon State Prison.  He was sentenced in 1911 (that's how long it took for the two trials to play out) and served about two years.  According to the newspaper articles, he apparently was a model prisoner and was given privileges such as work releases.  He was pardoned by the then-governor Oregon governor Oswald West in 1913.  The newspaper reported that Meyers went to Seattle and lived there for a time.  In 1915, again as reported in the newspaper, Meyers stopped in Salem to visit family and friends on his way to San Francisco.  He told people that he was going to San Francisco to get married.  According to the newspaper, when he arrived in San Francisco, he found that the woman he was to marry had married someone else.  He shot and killed her, then took his own life!  How's that for a twist of events?"

There have been no other "on duty" fatalities among our police for the 101 years since this event.
189 sworn police officers and 109 civilian employees currently staff our police department. It subscribes to the Community Oriented Policing model to bring police and citizens together to better fight crime. The Citizen Police Academy is a 13-week class, limited to 20 citizens, to inform and educate citizens in police practices.

• Due to the unhealthy drinking water, the City Council authorizes the purchase of the Salem Water Company. Citizens for a Mountain Water Company gain enough votes to secure a bond issue of $400,000.
• The Salem Fruit Union plant is operating on Trade Street (on the site of today's Pringle Park).
• US National Bank is constructed at Commercial and State Streets. (This is now Pioneer Trust.)
• Fred Legg designs a new Oregon School for the Deaf at its present location on Locust Street. The former school building on Turner Road becomes the Oregon Tuberculosis Hospital.
• Eaton Hall is built at Willamette University.
• The Korb family builds a home on 5th. Street in the present Grant neighborhood. The house is now rebuilt after a renovation project caused its collapse.
• Jefferson Pooler constructs three Court Street houses associated with the Spaulding and Griffith families. Charles K. Spaulding purchases these Craftsman house as wedding presents for his three adult children: Mrs. Roy (Beulah) Mills, Mrs. Lewis (Ila) Griffith and Walter, who married Nettie Miller. Dr. John Griffith, son of Lewis and Ila, still lives in his parents' former home. Another Pooler design is the Abrams House with Mill Creek directly at the back of the house: a bridge leads to the back lawn. The Pooler houses are all featured in the SHINE Court-Chemeketa Walking Tour.
• Daniel Fry, a Commercial Street druggist, purchases the house at 606 High Street, built in 1859 by Showalter Smith. This is now known as the Smith-Fry House. The Fry property included all of Rattlesnake Hill, which became known as Fry's Hill. Mr. Fry built houses around the base of the hill on High, Leslie and Church Streets as homes for his two adult children and as rentals for his employees. In later years (perhaps in the 1920s?), this neighborhood bordered by Church, Mission, Liberty and Pringle Creek gained a new name, Gaiety Hill. That designation is now given to this section of the Gaiety Hill/Bush's Pasture Park National Register Residential Historic District. These historic houses can be viewed on the SHINE Gaiety Hill/Bush's Pasture Park Walking Tour,
• The building that had previously been Alvin Waller's 1853 Methodist Church was photographed this year. By this time it had been moved to a Liberty Street location was serving as Olmstead's Steam Laundry.
• George Chamberlain resigns as governor when he elected this year as a United States senator.

From the Capitol Journal:

• Oregon's House of Representatives, meeting in Salem, voted to abolish the murderous hatpin of over 10 inches in length. Milliners protested, saying the law would affect the sale of Merry Widow hats and ruin some milliners.
• Ye Liberty Theater advertised: "Educational and comic pictures only ~ we guarantee nothing sensational will be shown."
• Meyer and Belle Land Company offered a fine, five room house with bath, electric lights, water and a 66 by 50 foot lot for $1,150; cash down, $650.
• The stern-wheeler Pomona arrived at Salem with 100 hop pickers and their enormous load of baggage. The steamer had difficulty getting over the Willamette River shoal and put her donkey engine to work hauling over shallows with the aid of stilts.

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