Salem in 2000

World Events

• The Supreme Court rules for George W. Bush, defeating Al Gore in the closest presidential election in history.
• Terrorists bomb USS Cole in Yemen.
• Pope John Paul II apologizes for wrongdoings of Catholic clergy throughout the ages.
• Federal authorities seize 6-year old refugee, Elian Gonzales, from relatives home in Miami to return him to his Cuban father.
• America Online purchases Time Warner for $162 billon, a largest-ever corporate merger. US v. Microsoft rules Microsoft violated US anti-trust laws by "keeping an oppressive thumb" on competitors. The computer "worm" ILOVEYOU infects tens of millions of Windows users.
• 250 million gallons of coal sludge spills in Martin County, Kentucky~ a greater environmental disaster than the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
• The Confederate submarine H. L.Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor. The Russian submarine Kursk sinks in the Bering Sea resulting in the deaths of 118 men on board.
• Final "Peanuts" is published due to death of creator, Charles M. Schultz. Academy Awards:"Gladiator" (US), "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (Taiwan). Prize-winning Books: In America, Susan Sontag and Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri.
  

• In Salem

 Historic Salem and Eola were two Oregon towns separated not only by a river, but also by county lines. In Polk County, Eola was absorbed by West Salem and, in 1947, the residents voted to be incorporated into the city of Salem in Marion County. However, there are many towns in Polk County that have distinct characters of their own, and it is this historical preservation that concerned residents who organized the Polk County Historical Society in 1959. In 1995, that society merged with a community group interested in establishing a county museum. Fortunately, a large private donation was offered for the project and this inspired smaller matching contributions. A mortgage for the last one-third of the cost was paid off in 2005, five years after the construction. The all-volunteer staff is proud that the only government support has come from Polk County cooperation in use of a portion of fairgrounds property, as seen in the photograph above.
The 14,000 square-foot, 2-story museum has dozens of different exhibit areas including Native American artifacts, industry from farming to timber, an automobile and stagecoach, an old-fashioned doctor/dentist office and period room furnishings. Its charm is in introducing visitors to a "home town" atmosphere that makes historic preservation a pleasure to experience.
Of special interest on the second floor galley is an inter-active time line teaching young students about important events in history. For researchers, the archive has approximately 6,000 photographs. The library contains 50,000 files on Polk County.

When you visit

Since the museum opened in 2000, Hwy 22, west from Salem, has had major renovations. The museum is now an easy 11 miles west of the Marion Street Bridge on that highway, turning south on 99E to Rickreall.

The museum also maintains the historic Brunk House. Harrison Brunk and his wife Emily Waller lived in Missouri before making the overland trip to Oregon. They freed their slaves and packed their possessions into two prairie schooners with four oxen to pull each wagon for the seven-month journey west. Following the Barlow Road, they arrived in Polk County where they took a Donation Land Claim northwest of Rickreall. The couple lived in a log cabin until their home was completed (by a neighbor) at a cost of $844 in 1861. More information about Polk County history is found in Pioneer History to about 1900 Churches of Christ and Christian Churches in the Pacific Northwest. This National Register property is on Hwy 22 near the junction with Hwy 51, Eola. Hours are Tuesday, 9-noon. No admission, donations only.

Other Events

• Salem's population is 128,595.
• Larry Wacker retired as City Manager and Bob Wells is appointed in an interim position.
• Section 61 of city charter: annexations must be approved by a vote of the people. (Ballot Measure 24-34)

State of Oregon team keeping government computers working in 2000

• As the capital city of Oregon, Salem was in the midst of the predicted Y2K crisis for state government computers. Much of the alarm was hype, but some of it was real, and state agencies did a good job to fix things before it could occur. Dedicated State of Oregon employees kept the state government computers from crashing as the calendar turned over into the new century.

• A dedication ceremony for Courthouse Square was held on September 29. Dignitaries present included former U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield who acquired the federal funding for the transit portion of the project. Bus operations at the former on-street transfer facility on High Street ceased at the end of the day on Saturday, September 30 and began at the new R. G. Andersen-Wyckoff Transit Mall on Monday, October 2. The first phase move of county employees from the Customer Service, Operations Supervisors, and Security Offices at 183 High Street to the first floor of Courthouse Square coincided with the beginning of bus operations there. The second phase move of administrative employees from 3140 Del Webb Avenue to the new fifth floor offices at Courthouse Square was made the week prior to the opening of business there on Monday, November 6.
• Fairview Training Center closed this year. Established by the state in 1908 as the Oregon State Institute for the Feeble Minded, it opened on December 1st of that year with the transfer of 39 adults and children from the Insane Asylum, until that time the only state institution that could provide them with any professional care. Harry E. Bickers of Pendleton was appointed Superintendent of that first home and had supervised the construction of the first five buildings—dormitory, administration building, laundry, a brick powerhouse, and a barn. A reporter described the main buildings as resembling "…a magnificent southern mansion." Here were located the superintendent’s office, reception rooms, attending physician’s office (Dr. W. Carlton Smith was the first to serve in that capacity), and schoolrooms. Separate dormitories for male and female students were maintained, and later the children were grouped in families of 20 to 25 according to levels of intelligence. When it closed in 2000, the few remaining residents were transferred to group homes or returned to live with their families.
• A reprise of Salem Hospital's "Century of Service", written by John McMillan, is published online on the Public Library's Salemhistory website.

Salem in 1947

World Events

• The US Marshall Plan aids rebuilding of European cities. Post-war tensions between U.S. and Russia are described as a "Cold War".
• The S. S. Exodus leaves France for Palestine with 4,500 Jewish survivors. Without British immigration certificates, passengers were sent back to refugee camps in Europe.
• The International Monetary Fund, fostering global monetary cooperation to promote economic growth and reduce poverty, begins to operate from headquarters in Washington, D.C.
• The Nobel Peace Prize is shared by the American Friends Service Committee (US) and Friends Service Council (UK) for "compassion for others and the desire to help them".
• Princess Elizabeth of Great Britain marries Phillip Mountbatten.
• "Flying Saucers" are reported; Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier in a rocket. The first Volkswagen Beetle is privately imported from Germany. A "bug" (actually a moth) causes a malfunction in Harvard computer.
• Jackie Robinson integrates baseball, cracking one social barrier while this year's film, "Gentleman's Agreement"(winner of next Academy Award), questions another. The Pulitzer Prize goes to the novel All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren.

In Salem
While their wives abandon "Rosie the Riveter" work outfits for the long-shirted New Look in fashions, Salem veterans are enrolling in college under the GI Bill or returning to their previous jobs. New confidence has hardly been restored when two tragedies strike Salem in October and November.
The first is a plane crash near Klamath Falls which takes the lives of Oregon's Governor, Earl Snell, and three companions: Robert Farrell, Secretary of State; Marshall Cornett, State Senator and pilot Cliff Hogue. Less than a week later, a sensational afternoon fire gutted the downtown Guardian Building, but caused no loss of life. Built at the turn of the century, the five-story building was one of Salem’s largest office buildings, home to approximately thirty businesses including several dentists and attorneys, a medical laboratory and pharmacy. The fire started in a light well shaft and quickly spread. All available equipment, including five pumpers and a ladder truck, and 45 firemen fought the blaze.

When you visit
The Key Bank now occupies the site at this familiar intersection: the southeast corner of Liberty and State Streets.

Other events

• This year, the City Manager form of municipal government took effect with Robert L. Elfstrom as mayor and J. L. Franzen as the first city manager. The Council was reduced from 14 to 7 members. (To see how our local officials conduct business, or to testify on subject of interest, attend a Council Meeting at the City Hall. Meetings are conducted on the second and fourth Monday and begin at 6:30 p.m. Sign up before the beginning of the meeting if you wish to speak.)

This photograph from the private collection of Ed Austin

• In a photograph taken the year before, we are looking west on Trade Street as it crosses Commercial Street. The contrasts with the present are dramatic. On the northeast corner was the Sicks' Brewing Company building (now the site of the Salem Convention Center) and across the street from it is the Salem Water Department building (Civic Center Park). On the southwest corner was the Oregon Pulp and Paper Company building (site of Pringle Creek redevelopment) and across the street from it is the Southern Pacific freight depot (replaced by a local tavern). The train tracks on Trade street (long ago removed) curve off to the right and left on Commercial Street. Currently, Trade Street is one way in this direction, passing Commercial Street to join Front Street and continue north along Riverfront Park.
• Ordinance No. 3723 provided for the office of Municipal Judge with a term of two years. W. W. McKinney was appointed by the Council.
• The Cherry Festival is again the occasion for a parade of Cherrians, this year led by King Bing, William C. Dyer. This great idea seems to have been past its time: the cherry celebrations lasted only a few years and were discontinued.
• The First National Bank (later Wells Fargo) is built at 280 Liberty Street. A modern design by Portland architect, Pietro Belluchi, it was a departure from the Victorian buildings downtown. Another modern building was the Pearce Building, replacing the structure that had burned. The Breyman Brothers Block, just two blocks away on Commercial Street, was undergoing the alterations that would eliminate the exterior decorations. The ground floor storefronts were most changed, often the original facades can be seen on second floor exteriors or windows. Two photographs of the bank are seen in the Downtown Walking Tour on this website. The building is still (2012) being considered for redevelopment as a mixed-use complex, but economic conditions have delayed this large investment. This building is featured on the SHINE Historic Downtown Walking Tour.
• Nora Anderson revives the Salem Art Association and begins a campaign to purchase original furnishings and art for the Bush House collection. It is an interesting footnote that Nora was born an Anderson and so did not have to change her name when she married William Everett Anderson, the owner of a local sporting goods store. Mr. Anderson was of a more easy-going disposition than his wife and probably was a good balance to her commanding personality. After his death, Mrs. Anderson was unable to manage the Court Street house and its responsibilities.  She moved to a local nursing home where she lived for a number of years.  Harvey Fox, the succeeding owner of the Anderson business, became her guardian. He recalls the years when he would take her out for drives through the city that she did so much to improve and preserve.
•  Three years have now passed since Asahel Bush, V died, leaving Faye Cornish Bush as his widow. This year she marries Rod Livesley. Stuart Bush, the surviving brother, was married to Rod's sister. He sometimes introduced Faye as " My late brother's wife and my wife's brother's wife". There are many descendants of our Bush family, but, unfortunately, none live in Salem. The last was "Jody", the great-granddaughter of the founder, Asahel Bush. A resident of California for most of her adult life, she died in 2009 and is buried with her Bush family in Salem Pioneer Cemetery.

  

  Bush Family Plot at Salem Pioneer Cemetery

• A remarkable series of aerial photographs are taken this year from a Goodyear blimp. They illustrate the extent of the city at that time. A view of the city from above West Salem shows (through the haze of pollution) a compact town along the river with little development to the east with the Lancaster area open fields. A photograph looking south over the Capitol shows nothing but factories south of trade Street with a wooded hill where the new City Hall will be built 25 years later. Another view looking east over the State Hospital shows the "J" and Dome Buildings and beyond that a few houses on Park Street. There are only small clusters of houses to the east.
• The Freedom Train passes through Salem, stopping at the State Fairgrounds. Thousands of residents are able to visit the train and see exhibits of documents and artifacts important to our nation's history.