Salem's Moving History #7 of 12

Trover photograph, courtesy Oregon State Library Photograph Collection

This 1910 Bungalow-Colonial Revival home stood at the former 295 Summer Street (lawn in the center of the Mall today) until moved in 1940s for construction of the North Capitol Mall. It was originally the home of the Hinges family. The daughter, Hallie Parrish Hinges (1868-1950) was a well-known vocalist in Salem, being declared by Pres. Teddy Roosevelt during his visit here in 1903 as the "Oregon Nightingale". After 1926 it was owned by Samuel and Sara Kimball.
photo courtesy Oregon Historic Photograph Collections, Salem Public Library
The 1940s move of the Hinges/Kimball home by the state took it to 735 Capitol Street to be used as an office building. (Today the lawn area south of the Archives Building.) It was photographed in 1978 by Bob Koval. It remained here almost 50 years until the late 1990s when it was moved again for the Archives construction. It was placed three blocks further north on Capitol Street.

photo by Tom Green, Jr in 2008

Here is the same house, now in private ownership, as it appears in its third location at 1075 Capitol Street NE. Still a handsome building, this Local Landmark has survived two moves and almost 100 years!

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.

Moving Salem History #5 of 12

Before 1911, the Heffley family built a handsome house (above) on Garden Road, now Market Street in the NESCA neighborhood. Their farm extended south to D Street. As the city grew, the property was divided and sold. The house itself was moved a few blocks south to Ellis Street. With no basement and its porches removed, it hardly looks like the same house in the recent photograph seen below.

Moving Salem History #3 and #4 of 12

photo above from the collection of Carole Smith

This historic 1934 photograph was taken from the lawn of the old Courthouse on High Street, looking north toward the former City Hall and Senator Hotel, now replaced by a parking lot and the bus center. The Grand Theater is across the street to the left. Now relocated are the World War I statue of the Doughboy (a traditional term for American infantrymen in earlier times) and the small house to the right.

The Doughboy soldier was erected in 1924, stored somewhere after the Courthouse was demolished in 1939. In 1991 the statue was placed in the Memorial Park of the Oregon Department of Veteran Affairs at 700 Summer Street.

The William Beckett house used for the Marion County Home Demonstration in 1934 was originally located on the corner of Liberty and Union Streets. Moved to the Courthouse lawn and completely renovated and refurnished, it was an example of Depression “how-to” remodeling for the average homeowner. It was sold to Larry Grote for $1,295 and moved to this Wilson Street lot behind his own home . It is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Moving Salem History #2 of 12

The Josiah L. Parrish House was a 1860s two-story wood frame house built out in the country on what became 745 Capitol Street. In this 1978 Bob Koval photograph from the Salem Public Library Oregon Historic Photograph Collections, the tall and narrow sash windows, capped by a wooden cornice, suggest an Italian architecture style that was added later, circa 1910. For the expansion of the North Capitol Mall and the new Oregon Archives Building in 1990, the house was purchased from the state by the City of Salem and moved to its present location at A. C. Gilbert Discovery Village. The workers faced a challenge when the house became temporarily trapped under the Marion Street Bridge.

Moving Salem History #1 of 12

Trover Photograph, Courtesy Oregon State Library

In 1883 this historic house was built by the C. S. Rockenfeld on Court Street, across from the Capitol. In 1937 the state purchased the property (as seen here in 1930s photograph), then owned by Henry Bean, Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, and moved it to 755 Capitol Street to make room for state buildings you see along Court Street today. In 1991, during the further expansion of the Capitol Mall, it was purchased by the City of Salem and moved to its present location. In 1992 it was opened to the public as part of A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery Village.

Opening Up the City to the River

It's a little ironic to see the sign for a Historic Tour in front of the demolition of the old paper mill on Front Street. One of the advantages we can anticipate when this building is removed is a Pringle Creek Trail through city parks to the Willamette. Salem's attention is finally turning toward its beautiful urban river!