Salem in 1962

World Events

• In October, a two-week Cuban Missile Crisis ends as Kennedy announces that Khrushchev will remove Soviet missiles in Cuba. Linus Pauling is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign against nuclear weapons testing.
• John Glenn orbits the earth in Friendship 7. Walter Schirra and Scott  Carpenter complete pioneer space flights. The U. S. Navy SEALS, elite special forces are commissioned for both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets.
• Two world-famous American women die: August 5, Marilyn Monroe; November 7, Eleanor Roosevelt. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy takes TV viewers on a tour of the White House.
• Rachel Carson warns of eco-danger. Her book, Silent Spring, gives rise to the modern environmental  movement.
• The term "personal computer" is coined.  AT&T's commercial communications satellite is launched into orbit. "Big Box" stores are created: Kmart, Target and Wal-Mart. Taco Bell opens its doors.
• Wilt Chamberlain scores a record-breaking 100 points in a NBA game.
• Andy Warhol premieres his "Campbell's Soup Cans" art exhibition. The Century 21 Exposition World's Fair, with Space Needle, opens in Seattle.
• Academy Award:"Lawrence of Arabia" (US), "Sundays and Cybele" (France). Prize-winning Books: The Moviegoer, Walker Percy and The Edge of Sadness, Edwin O'Conner.

In Salem
If the 1935 fire that destroyed the State Capitol building is the most remembered event in the city's history, the windstorm of 1962 probably ranks as the second.
The majority of structures in Salem experienced damage during that calamitous storm on Columbus Day. At its peak, between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. that Friday, it brought gusts of 90 M.P.H. and sustained winds of over 70 M.P.H. The $4 million total damages to Salem were higher than for any disaster the City had yet seen. The storm came with little warning and hit hard. It crossed the Oregon-California border on Friday, October 12, at noon, moving north at 48 M.P.H., reaching Salem at mid-afternoon. The ferocity of the winds as they roared through Salem shocked residents. Downtown, pedestrians were hit by glass from shattering windows, and dodged flying debris. Shoppers trying to get home were knocked to the ground. Cars were blown onto sidewalks and yards. The large sign on the roof of the Elsinore Theater was battered and crumpled by the wind and part of a wall at the Capitol Press Building fell onto two cars; rain then poured into the building. The steeple was torn from the Christ Lutheran Church at 18th and State Streets and dropped onto the sidewalk. Trees were blown over and uprooted. On the Capitol grounds, a falling tree knocked over the 3 1/2 ton statue of The Circuit Rider. (The photo seen here is from the Hugh Stryker Collection.)

When you visit
A few months later, the statue was repaired and replaced on its plinth.
The Circuit Rider statue was sculpted by A. Phimister Proctor to honor Oregon's circuit-riding ministers. Robert A. Booth, whose father was a Methodist Episcopal circuit rider, presented the statue to the state as a gift in 1924. It was originally placed in an imposing location in front of the 1876 State House. When the Capitol was rebuilt in 1937, facing north instead of west, the Circuit Rider was repositioned among other statuary in a wooded area. The imposing memorial can be seen to the east of the Capitol on the path leading to Waverly Street.

Other Events

Purification ponds on Minto Brown Island, 1965

• Boise Cascade purchases Oregon Pulp and Paper Company, a lumber company that began production at the same site in 1920. (The gabled roof of the Oregon Pulp and Paper Company building was still visible as part of the Boise Cascade plant when it was demolished in 2009.) After 1962 purchase, a yeast plant was added to convert byproducts of paper making into a food additive. In 1964 a container facility supplied cartons for food processing plants. Several improvements were made under Boise both to expand production and to meet air and water quality standards; purification lagoons were built on Minto Brown Island across the slough. Today these lagoons are both a protection from further water contamination and a hindrance to development of that section Minto Brown Island for public use. The industrial abuse of both the Willamette Slough and the island beyond makes urban development adjoining Riverfront Park's south border especially difficult. The plan for a pedestrian bridge from the park (beginning near the Eco Ball) must avoid disturbing the soil beneath the slough and the users of the bridge will have limited access to the island on the other side. A path will lead users to the now public section of the Minto Brown Park.
• The Chemeketa Street property of the Church of Christ Scientist is sold in September, providing space for the future development of the Nordstrom Mall. Meanwhile, church members have purchased property at High and Kearney Streets from Willamette University for the purpose of constructing a new church. This was the site of the 1860 John Carson house. (See 1954)
• Migrant Hispanic workers are employed in Marion County fields, but in Salem itself, the Latino population is small. Isabella Varela Ott moved to Salem in the 1950s to live with her daughter, Mary Varela Martinez, and her husband Pablo Martinez, a native of Peru. Mrs. Ott had a strong work ethic and wanted her children and grandchildren to have the same. She would take them out into the fields in the summers to pick beans, hops, and string beans. She also worked in local canneries. She was proud to be an American citizen and considered it a privilege to be able to vote and would do so at every opportunity. She also respected the people and culture of Mexico and stayed in contact with her son Luis who lived with his wife and family in Guadalajara. As the wife of a railway worker, she had access to a Southern Pacific pass that authorized her to travel free to Mexico. These trips continued every other year until her last one in 1971 at the age of seventy-six, twice taking her grandson David. She made it very clear that the American family should never forget their Mexican relatives. That grandson, Dr. David Martinez of Portland, recalls that theirs was one of only four Latino families in Salem in the 1960s and his social life as a high school teenager was difficult. 

Thomas Kay Mill in last years of operation

• Thomas Kay Woolen Mill closes due to loss of business in a changing market. The mill had been under continuous ownership and management of three generations of the Kay family until it was sold to the Mission Mill Museum Association for $160,000 in 1965, after having been closed for three years. The Mission Mill Association restored it to show authentic manufacturing processes from the time, and to depict the industrialization of America. Its buildings, exhibits and tours are now the centerpiece of the Willamette Heritage Center. The Kay family home on Court Street, only a few blocks away from the mill itself, had been demolished in 1937 when the State of Oregon had appropriated the property for the first building of the North Capitol Mall. The Oregon State Library stands on the former residence site.

Salem in 1949

World Events

• Communists establish People's Republic of China led by Mao Zedong.
• Germany is divided with Communist Federal Republic the east. NATO is established.  FBI condemns popular movie and literary celebrities as Communist Party members in the second US "Red Scare".
• David Ben-Gurion is elected president in first Israel election,  
• Present Truman introduces "Fair Deal" to aid education, health care and fair employment practices, most rejected by Republican Congress.
• Rainier III becomes monarch of Monaco on the Riviera.
• English astronomer, Fred Hoyle, uses the term "Big Bang" to explain the theory of an expanding universe. B-50 Superfortress "Lucky Lady" makes the first non-stop flight around the world.
• The last six surviving veterans of the Civil War meet in Indianapolis.
• "Hopalong Cassidy" is first western TV series. South Pacific" is a hit on Broadway; Milton Berle, "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" are TV stars. This year's movie about the late Huey Long, "All the King's Men", will win Academy Award. Pulitzer Prize novel: Guard of Honor, James Gould Cozzens.

In Salem
By a vote of 357 to 130, West Salem becomes a part of the city of Salem in a ceremony attended by both city councils. The original settlement had been near Rickreall Creek, with the platting of a town called Cincinnati, a later settlement was known as Eola, a thriving community for several years until the flood of 1890. The less hilly farmland north of Eola was subdivided into West Salem Addition. In 1912, Walter Gerth opened a grocery store at Gerth and Edgewater Streets; an early cannery, owned by Bruce Cunningham, became the Blue Lake Cannery. In 1913, after the completion of the railroad bridge, West Salem citizens voted to approve a city charter.
The West Salem City Hall was a Public Works project in the 1930s and an important community center. It was the location of the first Chemeketa College classes and the West Salem Branch Library in 1986. Later the small library was moved to a leased location in the shops across the street, then to Walker Middle School, and finally to the building on Glenn Creek. It remains Salem's only Branch Library.

When you visit
The former City Hall is now an office building and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Three bridges now span the Willamette River that divides the city of Salem. Marion and Center Streets have vehicle bridges (with a pedestrian lane), but the former Union Street Railroad Bridge and Trestle carry pedestrians and bikers only. Wallace Road, to the north, and Edgewater Road to the west, remain the dominant highways. In the ten years leading up to 2008, West Salem was growing as a residential area with many new subdivisions climbing the hills of former orchards. This expansion is now leveling off with less construction and new business.
The West Salem Neighborhood Association was founded in 1975. This is a unique organization in Salem as the meetings are conducted as a "town hall" and every resident present, not just a Board member, is allowed to vote on measures under consideration. This encourages a wider participation in neighborhood affairs and the meetings are well attended. Meetings are the 1st. and 3rd. Mondays of the month at 7 p.m. at Roth's IGA, 1130 Wallace Road. The public is welcome.

Other events

• The City Council adds an eighth member to represent West Salem.This has been the number of Council members since that time. As the population grows, however, the districts for which they are elected have been altered, making them bigger.
• The 1920s Oregon Pulp and Paper Company has grown to be the largest Salem employer (except for the state) with 600 workers. It is an important element in the lumber industry and the economy of the city, but also is the greatest polluter of the city's air.
• The first Art Fair is conducted on the lawn of the Marion County Courthouse with 10 artists in attendance. The fair will move the next year to Willson Park and remained there until the Salem Art Association occupies Bush House in 1953. The fairs have been held in Bush's Pasture Park since that year.

Barnes Home: 1911 -1949

• The construction of the third Oregon State building on the North Capitol Mall, the Transportation Building, begins with the demolition of residences between Chemeketa and Center, along Capitol Street. One of the most prominent was the home where the Barnes family had lived for 40 years. A family photograph taken in 1911 shows a far different scene than one taken when the house was unoccupied and waiting the wrecking ball in 1949. 

• Students pose for a school portrait at the 1887 Washington School (formerly East School at Center and 12th Street) on the last day of school, June 1. It was the last class to be held before demolition for the construction of a Safeway store. As one of Salem's tallest buildings, it had been a favorite spot for photographers.
• A large tombstone, estimated to weigh 400 pounds and presumably from the grave of Jason Lee or the Lee plot, found its way to the Willamette University campus in a mysterious manner.
• The first bridge on South River Road across the Willamette River to Independence was constructed.
• Chief of Police Frank Minto is remembered with a funeral procession through downtown streets and by the entrance to City Hall. He had served with the Salem Police Department for 26 years.
•  By 1949 Sick's Brewery on Commercial Street is one of only two breweries in Oregon and among Salem's largest taxpayers. The building was torn down in 1955 and the Convention Center stands there today. The brewery industry was important in the days before Prohibition. 

Salem in 1920

World Events

• Irish fight for Independence begins; there are riots between Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem; President Carranza is assassinated in Mexico.
• Congress refuses to ratify the Versailles Peace Treaty, objecting, especially, to the decision-making power of the League of Nations. The U.S. signed a separate treaty with the Central Powers.
• Republican Warren G. Harding is elected as President after a "front porch" campaign in which he rarely leaves his home in Ohio. He defeats two opponents: James Cox, Democrat and Eugene Debs, Socialist.
• The 19th Amendment to the US Constitution gives women the right to vote, which they do for the first time in this election. The League of Women Voters established in Chicago.
• Anna Anderson in Berlin claims to be the late Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia, youngest daughter of Nicholas II. After many interviews and mental examinations, her identity remained a mystery until DNA after her death in 1984 proved her to have been Franziska Schanzkowska. (See 1957 film "Anastasia", starring Ingrid Bergman.)
• The first licensed radio broadcast is made by KDKA of Pittsburgh.
• New books: The Pulitzer Prize goes to Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence.  Also introduced this year is This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

In Salem
William G. Allen, a prominent Salem business man (Allen Fruit Packing) designed this house and his own crew built it. For brining, drying and packing cherries, he leased on half a streetcar barn on North Front Street in 1934 and after a year it was the largest processor of cherries in the Pacific Northwest. By 1937, several types of fruit juices were produced. During World War II, Allen processed potatoes for the armed forces. The fruit processing industry was crucial to Salem's prosperity in the during the Depression and years of World War II. 

When you visit
After nearly fifty years of owning or managing plants in Salem, he announced in 1952 that he was closing the Front Street plant. After retirement, he and his wife continued to live in this home at 901 Capitol Street until his death on New Years Day in 1954. An interesting feature of the living room is an inglenook framing the fireplace area. The office has become office space and has had a new tenant since this photograph was made in 2007. This former home will be a part of the anticipated Grant Historical District, a nomination being prepared in 2010-2014.

Other events

• O. Wilson becomes mayor and the census shows the city population at 16.679.

• Oregon Pulp and Paper Company starts operations on the property that later became Boise Cascade. The last negotiation with city gave the company right to the property at the foot of Trade Street. [Ben Maxwell added to the news report: "In early pioneer times, an Indian cemetery with very shallow graves was located here."]  A long time feature of the Trade and Commercial intersection, across from the Convention Center and Civic Center Park, the building was partially demolished soon after the 2006 photograph. A new development of the property was still underway in 2014.

The Pulp and Paper Company Building at Trade and Commerical, 1920

The same structure as Boise Cascade in 2006

• The new Lausanne Building replaces the greatly remodeled Willson residence, serving as a dormitory on Willamette University campus. Students participated in the demolition, using axes to splinter old woodwork interior features.
• To the north of the city, John MacDonald builds a farmhouse on a rural path accessed from Portland Road. In 1936, the railroad overpass was constructed, cutting off the former access: the new entrance road was named for the family. After the widowed Mrs. MacDonald left in 1948, the house had many occupants and was converted into apartments in 1968. The current owner-residents have remodeled what had become a business address.
• An English cottage is built for Albert and Doris Adolphson on D Street. They were proprietors of the Klasic Photo Shop. In the late 1940s, Franklin and Doris Silkey were residents. The property was acquired by the State in 1959. This Local Landmark is now a part of Heritage Park, a group of seven state-owed properties bordering the Mill Creek between Summer and Winter Streets in the CAN-DO neighborhood.
• Just a few blocks north, is the home of Wolcott Buren, a prominent Salem physician. Howard Belton, the Treasurer of the State of Oregon, lived here between 1961 and 1980. It became a rental property until the present owners bought the house. It has retained its original style with few alterations. The Buren/Belton house is in the historic Grant neighborhood.
• The probable first owners of a house built at 396 18th Street were Henry L. and Jennie Briggs who lived here until 1930 when it was sold to Russell and Valerie Bonesteele . Mr. Bonesteele was in the automobile business. He served on the Salem Hospital Board and other community boards including the Salem City Council. He became mayor of Salem 1959-62.

The Sprague House

• An English Tudor house was built for Charles and Blanche Sprague at 425 14th Street. He was then publisher of the Oregon Statesman and, in 1939, was elected Governor. After several subsequent political posts, he returned to publishing. The Sprague family lived here for 25 years. It was sold to the state and became part of a social services agency. Both houses are Local Landmarks in the NEN neighborhood.
• South of Trade Street, two previously rural streets are becoming residential. Church Street is filling with rental houses built by Daniel Fry, many for his employees at the Fry Drug Store on Commercial Street. 651 Church Street was an early rental home of Conde McCullough, designer of Columbia Gorge bridges and probably the one just north of his home. Along High Street, south of the Fry property and west of Bush's pasture, many new bungalows are contracted for construction as property owners move south of Mission Street. Both of these streets are in the present Gaiety Hill/Bush's Pasture Park Historic District. A walking tour of this district, including these two streets can be found on SHINE.
• A hilltop English cottage is built this year for Edward and Kathryn Piasecki, one of the first houses built in the Kingwood Heights area of West Salem. A boating tragedy on the Oregon coast near Newport claimed the life of Edward and another Salem attorney in August of 1952 when he was 72 years old. Kathryn Piasecki continued to live in the house until 1965. It is now a Local Landmark.