SALEM in 2012

World Events

• Costa Concorda cruise ship, just beginning a tour around the Mediterranean, wrecks near Tuscan island of Giglio causing the largest shipwreck in history. The ship had diverted from its planned route and struck a rock. Compensation for lives and property rose to $2 billion.
• Arab Spring uprisings continue with civil war in Syria, elections disputed in Egypt and the Tunisian president imprisoned. In Libya, the Benghazi US Consulate attacked with loss of Ambassador Chris Stevens and 2 other American staff members.
• Disaster strikes the Philippines when super typhoon Bopha causes 170,000 people to flee to evacuation centers. Destruction in the city of  Mindanao leaves thousands homeless
• 2000 American casualties in our 11th year of war in Afghanistan.
• In Connecticut, the Sandy Hook School shooting kills twenty children aged 6 and 7 as well as 6 adult staff members and the 20-year old shooter. Despite public and congressional debate about the availability and sale of semi-automatic guns, no legislative change is made.
• After 246 years of publication, the Encyclopedia Britannia discontinues print publication.
•  Academy Awards: "Argo" (US), "Amour" (Austria) Prize-winning book: The Round House, Louise Erdrich.

In Salem 

 The Salem Chamber Orchestra brought Play Me, I'm Yours to Salem with 11 street pianos distributed across the streets of Salem and Keizer. Located in public parks, streets and even on the Union Street Bridge, the pianos were there for the public to play and enjoy. After being in place for two weeks, the pianos were donated to local nonprofit organizations.

Piano on Union Street Bridge decorated by Gilbert Children's Museum

When You Visit

The pianos were located in the places listed in the following link.

http://streetpianos.com/salem2012/ 

Other Local Events

• In January, heavy rain caused many streams, including Mill Creek, to overflow their banks. Muddy water covered several Salem streets and parking lots. Homes and basements were flooded. 
• KMUZ, our local non-profit, public service radio station was flooded out of its basement quarters.  A move to 245 Division Street provided the crew and their equipment with a permanent home. The KMUZ archive, available here allows listeners to check up on their favorite programs and be introduced to new ones.
• Janet Taylor, our previous mayor who served an unprecedented four terms, was named First Citizen of the Year by the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce.
• Anna Peterson is re-elected to serve as a second term as mayor without opposition.
• The recently completed renovation of the Oregon State Hospital's only original structure, the Kirkbride Building, as shown below, has a new cultural exhibit.

The Museum of Mental Health at the Oregon State Hospital was opened in October of this year. It is dedicated to telling the stories of the Oregon State Hospital and the people that have lived and worked here. Our 2,500 square foot museum, located in the oldest building on the Oregon State Hospital campus includes permanent and changing exhibits.  The museum effort was headed by Hazel Patton and is currently run by volunteers supported by the generous donations of community members and competitive grants. It contains artifacts from the award-winning movie, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" which was filmed at this hospital. See more references to the renovated hospital in the information for 2009.

• Originally constructed by Karl J. Peters, the modest bungalow above has served continuously as a residence since 1925.The Peters owned the house until 1937. It changed hands five times through the 1940s until it was purchased by Ole P. and Dorothy Nielson in 1950. They owned the house for the longest period of time, 45 years. The house is a typical example of the modest housing that was constructed in the mid-1920s in this neighborhood for blue-collar tradespeople. Even though this block was excluded from the Gaiety Hill/Bush Pasture Park National Register Historic District, just to the north, it represents a period development in South Salem which defines the character of the neighborhood. It was placed on the city's list of Local Landmarks in 2012.  

• Bridges, pro and con, are subjects of action and debate. Friends of Two Bridges announces OYFF  (On Your Feet Friday), a series of events intended to help increase awareness and funding for the proposed Minto Bridge. 

• In contrast, local groups, organized under the banner of "No 3rd Bridge" are protesting the City Council project of many years past for a pass-through, heavy traffic highway from the Salem Parkway in North Salem (crossing Front Street at Pine Street) and  continuing over the Willamette River to a landing in West Salem. This would facilitate commercial transportation between Portland and Highway 22 to the coast. Opponents of the "3rd Bridge" cite the damage to the North Salem residential area, the interference with Willamette River natural resources and disruption of West Salem neighborhoods. A diagram showing the path of this bridge can be seen here.

Salem in 1883

World Events

• The Orient Express makes its first run from Paris to Giurgiu in Romania and by ferry and train on to Istanbul.
• U.S. and Canadian railroads institute 5 standard continental time zones, ending confusion with local times. These are the zones we use today.
• In his hometown, Dunfermline, Scotland, Carnegie opens the first library named for him.
• The Brooklyn Bridge opens as millions of viewers wave flags and cheer this "Eighth Wonder of the World."
• Ladies in Cincinnati, Ohio can shop in the first Kroger grocery store. Families across the country are reading the new Life and Ladies Home Journal magazines,
• Bill Cody organizes his "Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World" with the added attractions of Annie Oakley, Sitting Bull, Arabs, gauchos, Turks and Mongols.
• Great year for children's books: Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island is published in London, Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio in Italy and The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood in New York.

Oregon State Hospital Kirkbride "U" Building 2008

In Salem
In this year, Salem is introduced to the Kirkbride building of the new Oregon State Hospital. Located at 2600 Center Street NE, it stood in expansive grounds. Envisioned as an ideal sanctuary for the mentally ill, it promised to promote a healthy environment and to convey a sense of respectability. But growing patient populations and insufficient funding led to unfortunate medical conditions, impeding this goal. Over the years, much of the oldest section of the hospital became unusable and unsafe. In 2008, when this photograph was taken, the state planed an extensive renovation. In the same year, the entire campus of this 1883 institution was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is now returned to a red brick color.

When you visit
The campus is open to cars and all the walking paths are usable.  The new facility features a different treatment model and most of the older buildings on the south side of Center Street, in progress of renovation for several years, have been demolished and replaced. The cupola seen here, a landmark in Salem, was taken down for repair and returned to its place.  Only the front section of the "J" building was preserved and a Museum of Mental Health was created just inside the former main entrance.

Other events

• Andrew Kelly is elected mayor and will serve for two years.
• Salem Engine Company No. 3 is created in March. Equipped with the Hunneman hand pumper from Tiger Engine Company No. 2 and a hose cart. This pumper can be seen at Fire Station No. 5. It is also featured in our post entitled Fire Station Museums.
• Dr. Daniel Payton, who was one of the organizers of the Willamette University Medical School in 1866, retires from his local practice of gynecology this year. At the university he had served as Chair of the new medical specialty, Obstetrics and Diseases of Woman and Children, holding that position for thirteen years.

Rockenfield house in its original Court Street Location

• The Rockenfield House is built on the northeast corner of Court and Summer Streets, across from State House. Originally owned by C.S. Rockenfeld and his wife Sally, it later became the home of Henry Bean, Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. In 1937, two years after the State House burned, the state purchased this property and moved the house to 755 Capitol Street to make room for the gardens adjacent to the new State Library. In 1991, during the further expansion of the Capitol Mall for construction of the State Archives, the house was moved to its present location. In the next year it opened as a part of the A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery Village. After a colorful renovation, it continues to be an attractive part of our cultural community.
• A prison break at the State Penitentiary in July of this year (prior to the building of a brick stockade to enclose the facility) resulted in five casualties; fourteen prisoners broke through the first gate, four convicts were killed outright, another died during recapture.
• Quinaby Station on the Oregon Electric Railway was named after one of the most colorful Indians in the region. In 1854, when all the Indians in the Valley were removed to the new reservation at Grand Ronde, Quinaby decided life was much more comfortable in Salem. So, despite regulations to the contrary, Quinaby, who was about 50 at the time, mounted his old horse and headed for Salem on the Fourth of July. He arrived shouting praises of the Great White Father in Washington, D. C. Actually, he expected to share in the barbecue he knew was held annually on that date. Unfortunately, it wasn't held that year. That didn't stop Quinaby, who scrounged food from his white friends, reminding them of how he had stood up for the whites in the early days. He lived in Salem for about 30 years, cadging food, conducting Indian gambling games and being generally accepted by the populace. "Chief" Quinaby died this year.
• This year the Oregon School for the Blind found its third new home. Opened in 1873, it had closed twice, but now reopened with C. E. Moore as superintendent on 12th Street between Ferry and State. The school's mission--to provide a residential facility for the state's blind people to receive training in self-help skills, language development, and work skills--remained the same. Physical education was also emphasized as "in many cases the cause which produced blindness brought also a weakening of the entire constitution." Music and debating societies were featured activities, and, just as with the other Salem institutions, a small garden and orchard was attached to the facility to provide food for the table and employment for the older students. A library stocked with books in Braille had, almost from the school's first inception provided reading opportunities for the boys and girls, men and women.