Salem in 1973

World Events

• Chili's unstable, but democratically-elected, government of Pres. Allende, is overthrown by military forces of Gen. Pinochet, backed by U.S.
• The Nobel Peace Prize is shared by Henry Kissinger (US) and Le Durc Tho (Vietnam) for the 1973 Paris agreement that brought about the cease-fire in Vietnam and the withdrawal of American forces.
• After the Yom Kippur War, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries embargo oil to nations that had supported Israel, prices rise in a U.S. energy crisis.
• Vice President Agnew resigns due to income tax evasion; Gerald Ford, Speaker of the House of Representatives, takes office.
• Secret White House tapes are revealed during the Watergate Congressional investigation. Nixon orders Attorney General to fire  Special Prosecutor Cox. When he refuses, a string of Justice Department firings was named "Saturday Night Massacre".
• Members of the American Indian Movement occupy the town of Wounded Knee for 71 days, but are overwhelmed by 1200  arrests.
• In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court overturns U.S. ban on abortion.
• Academy Awards:"The Sting" (US), "Day for Night" (France). Prize-winning Books: The Optimist's Daughter, Eudora Welty and Augustus, John Edward Williams.

Historic Deepwood Estate

Willamette Heritage Center

In Salem
Salem appears on the US Department of the Interior's National Register of Historic Places for the first time with four historic properties at two sites: the 1894 Deepwood Estate, owned by the city, and the 1895 Thomas Kay Woolen Mill (Now Willamette Heritage Center), a privately administered facility. The mill property includes two other historic building this year: the 1841 Jason Lee House and the Methodist Parsonage. These are the first Methodist mission residential structures of Salem. Two other buildings, also moved to the Mission Mill Museum property, will be successfully nominated in the coming years: the 1846 Boon House (in 1975), an early private residence and 1858 Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church (in 1987). The historic church was originally located 12 miles southeast of Salem near West Stayton.
David Duniway leads these first local efforts for historical preservation. The Oregon State Archives gives his introduction: "From day he arrived in Salem in 1946, David Duniway gave a great deal of his time and energy to the local historical community. His retirement as State Archivist in 1972 only served to increase his focus on his other projects that have become the cornerstones of the local historical community. Duniway helped to organize and became the first director of the Mission Mill Museum Association. He retired as director of the Mission Mill in 1976 to spend more time writing books about Salem history. Duniway was founder of the Marion County Historical Society and the Salem City Club and served as a member of Salem's sesquicentennial committee. His personal connection to Oregon history was strengthened by the fact that he was grandson of famous pioneer and equal rights champion, Abigail Scott Duniway."

When you visitHistoric Deepwood Estate is open for tours and many events during each year. More information may found on their website. Of special interest are the 5 acres of gardens partially designed by the Lord and Schryver landscape architects and maintained by that Conservancy. The historic Deepwood carriage house has recently been restored and will be used for exhibitions and other services.
The Mission Mill Museum and the Marion County Historical Society, on the same property, have become united in 2010 as the Willamette Heritage Center. Mission Mill Museum will continue to be the site for administration, exhibitions, cafe and the rented retail/office space. The former Marion County Historical Society facility serves as the archive, library and information technology center. The website gives information about exhibits and hours of operation.

Other events•    Robert E. Lindsey, a dentist by profession, becomes mayor as the city administration adapts to the new Civic Center.
•    In May, Grant Park, adjacent to the Grant Elementary School is opened. Stuart Compton, Administrator of the Aldrich Trust, suggests this second use of trust funds and the project was accepted by the City Council. The four acre park has play equipment for children, a ball field and picnic tables. Both students and neighbors use this attractive neighborhood amenity.
•    Buildings on a High Street site, between Chemeketa and Center, are emptied in preparation for a new six-floor office building, the Equitable Center.
•    The Senator Hotel Building, on High and Court Street intersection, is sold to the state as an office building.

Salem in 1927

World Events

• As the controlling Chinese Nationalists murder members of the opposition Communist party in Nanchang, the Communist Chinese People's Liberation Army is formed.
• Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, leaving Joseph Stalin with control of the Soviet Union.
• Iraq gains independence from Britain
• Charles Lindbergh makes a solo flight across the Atlantic in his single-engined Spirit of St. Louis. There is a huge ticker-tape parade in New York city to welcome his homecoming. The Holland Tunnel opens linking NYC with New Jersey.
• The Iron Lung is invented for the relief of polio sufferers.
• The popular Harlem Globetrotters take to the road for performances. Babe Ruth hits 60 home runs.
• Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System (CBS) goes on air with 47 stations.
• The Academy Awards are established with "Wings" winning best picture. The Pulitzer Prize goes to Bridge of San Luis Rey, Thornton Wilder.

In Salem
This year Lee Eyerly establishes his flight school in Salem at what would become McNary Airfield. In 1921 he had been Salem’s pioneer commercial pilot. Using the latest training methods, he opened a ground school and taught mechanical work, rigging, meteorology, and navigation. Salem high school administrators caught the spirit and were offering flight-training classes to students. By 1928, Eyerly's planes were doing cross-country business as well as passenger hops over the State House, thought by many to be a prospective landing place. By this time, Salem had progressed so that any major plane overhaul or rebuild job was possible. The successful Salem airport campaign was presented in the form of a charter amendment calling for issuance of $50,000 in bonds for the purchase of land and the establishment of the landing field.

When you visit
Commuter air service in Salem was briefly served by SeaPort Airlines in 2011. Seaport took off from a terminal with a newly completed 4.000-square-foot expansion, a $1.5 million project paid for by grants from the Federal Aviation Administration and the State of Oregon. A great way to see the airfield is to visit the Flight Deck restaurant. The dining area has large windows overlooking the airfield.

For residents who are interested in commercial air service in Salem, the Salem Airport Advisory Commission meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at Fire Station #6. The public is welcome.

Other Events

• Thomas A. Livesley becomes mayor.
• The new YMCA Building, just completed, is much larger than the neighboring Court Street residences of the Boise and McNary families. To the east, toward the State House, the street was lined with handsome homes of other prominent "Old Guard" familes. None have survived.
• The last of the Ford Model-T automobiles are produced this year.

From left: Commercial Street from State Street looking north

• Marion County conducted a Health Demonstration Project between the 1926 and 1930. The parade of 1927 (above), led by the governor, proceeded down Commercial Street while automobiles and spectators lined the route.
• Salem Lutherans of German descent begin worshiping in old 1894 Presbyterian Church on Church Street. They buy the church and rename it as the Lutheran-American Church to indicate the services will be English. According to church records: "Mr. (Max) Gehlar, the Sunday School superintendent was a leader and through his efforts the Sunday School became one of the most active and well attended in the city."
• Notice is received from Redlands, California that Libbie Patton has died at the age of 85. She was the second wife of two noted Salem pioneers: she married Joseph Holman (1815-80) in 1875 and Thomas McFadden Patton (1829-92) in 1889. In both cases, she was the second wife.
• Ercel Kay establishes the Salem Golf Club with the first nine holes completed on the former John Hughes Land Grant. The fee for playing was 25 cents.
• Outdoor activity may have been handicapped by the weather in July, as reported by the Capitol Journal, Ben Maxwell recalled. During that month, the government thermometer on the 23rd registered 108 degrees, an all-time high. The climax came that evening when an electrical storm rattled windows and frightened children.
• In this year of booming economy, Salem families are building new houses. In a developing residential section of Salem, Sam and Lottie Adolph build a Mediterranean styled home on South Commercial Street. Photographed in 1978 by Bob Koval, and again recently, the house retains its original appearance. It is a Local Landmark in the SCAN neighborhood.
• Two blocks south of the Adolph House, is the Colonial Revival home built by Leland and Mildred Geer. The house was sold to Rollin and Alice Page in the next year. Mrs. Page continued to live here after her husband's death in the late 1940s and the house stayed in family ownership into the 1950s. This is also a Local Landmark and is in the SCAN neighborhood.
• A third Local Landmark in this neighborhood is the Mediterranean Meier House on Rural Street, then at the city limits. Fred Meier purchased it in this year and lived there off and on for the next twenty years, renting it out periodically. In 1946 the house was sold to Harold and Eva Jory who lived there until 1953.
• The Rosecrans House is built on Chemeketa Street by D. A. and Etta Hodge for their daughter Margaret Rosecrans, a widow, and clerk for the State Highway Commission. Mrs. Rosecrans resided here until 1942 at which time it was sold to John and Lela Jerman. Later owners were Linn C. Smith and Lulu Marie (Jerman) Smith. There is also a 1978 photograph. This house is a Local Landmark in the NEN neighborhood.
• A famous pooch, resident of Silverton, died this year. Bobbie, the Scotch collie that was lost from his owner and made his way from Indiana back to his former home in Silverton, is honored in that city where he is buried in a child's casket.

Salem in 1911

World Events

• The Mexican Revolution, led by Madero and Pancho Villa, ends as Porfirio Diaz resigns and flees to France. Political conflict continued until the adoption of a Constitution in 1917 .
• Physician, writer and philosopher Sun-Tat-Sun (known afterward as the Father of the Nation) is elected Provisional President of a democratic government in China as Manchu dynasty falls.
• Marie Curie wins Nobel Prize for chemistry.
• U. S. Supreme Court finds Standard Oil Trust violated Sherman Anti-trust Act. The monopoly broken up and 34 companies established.
• Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City kills 146 immigrant (mostly women) workers unable to escape as the doors were locked by owners to prevent unauthorized work breaks.
• Hiram Bingham rediscovers Machu Picchu in Peru.
• Roald Amundsen's Norwegian expedition reaches the South Pole.
• Bobby Jones wins is first golf title at the age of 9.
• New American Books: Jennie Gerhardt, Theodore Dreiser; Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton; Canzoni, Ezra Pound.

In Salem

• In this photograph, President William Howard Taft stands in an automobile, surrounded by not-so-Secret Service. In the background is the Eugene Breyman house on the northeast corner of Church and Court Streets, now the site of Statesman Journal. The president appears to be facing the Breyman Brothers Spanish American War Memorial at the entrance to Willson Park. Hallie Parrish Hinges (featured in the 1903 entry) leads a chorus of school children as the president gazes down on the group.

After leaving office, Taft spent his time in seeking world peace through his self-founded "League to Enforce Peace." In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Taft Chief Justice of the United States, fulfilling Taft's lifelong dream. Taft served in this capacity until his death in 1930.

When you visit
The Eugene Breyman residence, like that of his brother Werner (a block south), has been demolished. This house, greatly renovated, was moved to Summer Street during the conversation of the original residential block to commercial use. In the 1990s it was demolished for the construction of the State Lands Building.
The 1904 Spanish American memorial remains the Cottage Street gateway into Willson Park. The park was created in 1854 when William Willson, pioneer of the Methodist mission, donated a portion of his land to build the new Oregon territorial capitol building. The capitol would be located in the center of a long, open space designated on Willson's original plat as "Willson Avenue," just south of his house on the corner of Court and Capitol streets. (See 1881) It was Willson's wish to preserve open spaces within the growing town, similar to the village commons in the New England towns. The block between the capitol building and the Marion County Courthouse was declared a public square. It eventually became known as Willson Park.

Other events

Duniway-Lachmund Home on Court Street, 1911-1930s

Present State Street Location, 2014

• Louis Lachmund becomes mayor. Due to the construction of the North Capitol Mall in 1937, his home on Court Street was condemned, purchased by Willamette University and moved to the campus. A subsequent move brought it to its present location on State Street. When the Lachmunds left their home, they moved to the Jarman House, a 1929 Spanish Colonial residence designed by Beverly Hills architect Glen McAlister with gardens created by the local landscape firm of Lord and Schryver. This National Register property can be seen on SHINE Gaiety Hill/Bush's Pasture Park Walking Tour.
• An outstanding social event is the wedding of Margaret Boot to Asahel Bush IV, grandson of the newspaper publisher and founder of Ladd and Bush Bank. Her parents' home is on Birdshill Drive in South Salem neighborhood. The young couple became parents of Asahel V and Stuart Bush. Margaret died at age of 34 in 1934 after an illness of 3 years.
• D. A. White Warehouse is erected on Front Street. This company had numerous large feed warehouses, including one in Europe, but this the only one that remains a token of that enterprise of the horse-and-buggy era.  It is still standing in the same location and can be seen on the SHINE Historic Downtown Walking Tour.
• Eugene Ely, the Bird Man, an aviation pioneer, visits Salem and makes a successful flight. He mounts his fragile machine on Lone Oak track at the fairgrounds, turned on the juice and after skimming along the track, arose from the ground in front of the grandstand. He ascended about 400 feet and raced around the track, first with an automobile and then with a motorcycle. As a final performance, he circled the Capitol Dome. That October he died during a Macon, Georgia exhibition in a crash when his plane was late pulling out of a dive.

In the Capitol Journal:

• Salem's mayor was arrested for violating a traffic ordinance, His honor was charged with cutting a corner at the intersection of State and Commercial streets. The mayor pleaded that his horse was just a colt and that he could not control it. Judge Elgin remitted the fine and the mayor was richer by a $5 gold piece.
• Buren and Hamilton, Salem household furnishers, advertised heating stoves from $1.50 up. Their carbon heaters for both coal and wood were supplied with heavy grates and extra-heavy cast iron fire pots. All had large mica doors in front, giving the effect of an open fire. They were neat and free from superfluous trimmings.
• Barnes Cash Store offered old Civil War Springfield rifles of 45-70 calibers with a bayonet for $1.50. "A very appropriate decoration for Memorial Day".
• Secretary of State Olcott desired to oust State Printer Duniway from the Capitol. he requested an opinion from Attorney General Crawford on the subject. Crawford ruled that the state printer was occupying his quarters without authority, but so were the secretary of state, the state treasurer, the governor and the Supreme Court.

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

Moving Salem's History # 6 of 12

In the 1940s photograph above, the Rev. George H. Swift and his wife Alice posed in front of the St. Paul's Episcopal Church Rectory at 554 Chemeketa Street. The church occupied an adjacent parcel on the corner of Chemeketa and Church Streets, having replaced the original St. Paul's Episcopal Church of 1854. In 1953 the third church was built at its present location at the corner of Liberty and Myers Streets, across from Bush's Pasture Park.


The former rectory was probably moved to this 1510 Davidson Street location in 1953. At the time it became a part of the Gaiety Hill/Bush Pasture Park National Historic Residential District in 1986, the writers of the nomination did not know the story of this house. We are grateful to Marylou Green, a long time church member who identified it for us.