Salem in 1978

World Events

• Camp David Accords further peace talks concerning Israel and Palestine. Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin earn the Nobel Peace Prize.
• The Holy Crown of Hungary is returned to Hungary from U.S. where it has been held since World War II.
• Pope John Paul I dies after only 33 days of papacy. John Paul II succeeds in "Year of Three Popes" since 1605. He is the first Polish pope.
• President Carter postpones production of neutron bomb which kills people but leaves buildings intact. The U.S. Senate votes to turns the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control on December 31, 1999.
• First "test-tube" baby born, Louise Joy Brown of Bristol, England.
• In San Francisco, Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated. Diane Feinstein becomes the first female mayor. The rainbow flag of LGBT movement flies in San Francisco's Gay Freedom Day Parade.
• Two million citizens in Iran demonstrate against the Shah.
• Garfield appears as a comic. Superman is released as a movie.
• The Academy Awards: "The Deer Hunter" (US),"Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (France). Prize-winning Books: Blood Tie, Mary Lee Settle and Elbow Room, James Alan McPherson.

In Salem

In our downtown, Urban Renewal is attempting to accommodate customers of the 1970s who need places to park their cars. Salem's business community of a century before had been built for residents who lived close enough to walk from their homes to shops and professional appointments, or lived in the upper floors of downtown buildings. However, the growth of the city had relocated families into neighborhoods that required automobile transportation. Along the east side of Commercial Street, the half-block south of the Chemeketa Street, had already been torn down for a Lipman and Wolfe (Liberty Plaza) surface parking lot quite a while before this Chemeketa Parkade came onto the scene. Here is a view looking west between High and Liberty Streets when it was almost complete. To the right of this photograph is Penney's and to the left is the First National/Wells Fargo Bank building.
In another photograph of this year, a sign identifies basic information about the building: "This four level, 720 space parking structure will open by November 15, 1978 for free shopper parking. After January 1, 1979, leased space on the top level only will be available for employee parking. Approximately 30,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space will be available upon total completion of the structure by March 15, 1979. This project is financed from a portion of the $6.8 million dollar tax allocation bond issue approved by City voters in March 1977. Total construction cost is $3,353,000.

When you visit

This structure in the photograph at the top of this page is now very familiar. Several other parkades, sky-bridges and new stores were established in the next eight years until the downtown was complete with the conveniences and appearance it has today.
Unfortunately, historic buildings were lost, or a significant portion was demolished. An example of alteration is the original Eldridge Block on Commercial Street, above, with the same beautiful external decorations as the present Greenbaum's Quilted Forest. The building extended to Chemeketa Street (in this photograph we are looking at the Commercial Street side of the parking structure at the top of the page). It housed the Barnes Cash Store (on the corner) and Fry's Drug Store (next door) established by prominent Salem families of the early 1900s. E. T. Barnes was the proprietor of the Cash Store on the southeast corner of Commercial and Chemeketa streets. Daniel Fry not only owned the Drug Store, adjacent to the Cash Store, but purchased (1909) and developed the hill south of Pringle Creek extending to Leslie Street, between High and Church streets. At the crown of the hill was the 1858 Showalter Smith house (now the Smith-Fry House), which became the Fry family home.
Looking forward, an interesting new element of downtown life as the 21st century begins its second decade, is that the city is now encouraging renovation and construction that will bring people back into the core of the city to live as well as work. Several condos have been built within a few blocks of the business and entertainment center and renovation of older buildings have offered apartments on the upper floors. A small grocery store was established in the Bishop Building. Perhaps it will once again be a city where people walk (or bicycle) to work or just to enjoy downtown amenities.
During these years of urban change, the city established the Downtown Development Board (1976). In 1979, the Pringle Creek Project Advisory Committee was merged into it and, in 2005, the Parking Advisory Board. This joint Downtown Advisory Board advises the Urban Renewal Agency Board on matters related to urban renewal and tax increment fund allocations, and advises the City Council on matters related to the Downtown Parking District and the Parking Fund. Meetings are generally held the fourth Thursday of each month at noon.

Other events

• Bob Moore, longtime City Manager, retires and the fifth, Ralph Hanley, is appointed. He develops an urban growth management system that is approved by City Council in 1979.
• The Thomas Kay Mill that became Mission Mill has a very different aspect this year. The renovation included completely rebuilding the Dye House and other structures that had utilized the waterpower of the millrace. The mill turbine is refurbished to provide power. This work continued into 1983 under the direction of Anthony Reid. The Dye House has become an attractive small venue for conducting public programs and meetings that take place in the mill buildings, now Willamette Heritage Center.
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• This year, Bob Koval received a CETA grant and took a series of several hundred photographs of historic Salem homes, chosen by his own idea of what was interesting, unique or of historical significance. Some are still in existence, like the Pade House on 15th Street (above). Others have been relocated, like the Carleton Smith House (now on Cannon Street). A few have been demolished, like the charming Queen Anne cottage on 4th Street (now the site of Broadway Town Square). This collection of house photographs is invaluable to historians and researchers. We are fortunate that volunteers at the Salem Public Library, under the direction of Don Christenson, have carefully scanned each photographed, supplied a caption and added it to the Oregon Historic Photograph Collections.
• At this time, Salem school district included 5 high schools and 38 elementary schools. The 1915 McKinley School gained an additional music room/gym this year. A library was added in 1980. This historic school is located in the SCAN neighborhood and is a few blocks south of Bush Pasture Park.

Salem in 1953

World Events 

• The CIA helps restore Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to power in Iran, overthrowing the democratically elected  Mohammad Mossadegh. Vice President Nixon visits Iran causing riots (now an annual commemoration).
• On TV the world watches the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the Eisenhower inauguration, Lucy giving birth on "I Love Lucy". (Color TV sets go on sale for $1,175.)
• The Korean Armistice Agreement establishes the DMZ between communist North and capitalist south.
• George C. Marshall is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (in part) as the originator of the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after WW II.
• Lung cancer first attributed to cigarette smoking, Jonas Salk announces a  polio vaccine. James Watson and Francis Crick discover the structure of DNA molecule.
• Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norway are first men to reach summit of Mount Everest. Mickey Mantle hits baseball's longest home run (565-feet).
• "Mad", "Playboy" (with Marilyn Monroe as centerfold) and 'TV Guide" are popular new magazines. The Academy Award went to "From Here to Eternity"(1954). National Book Award: Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison. Pulitzer Prize: Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway.

In Salem
Returning servicemen, who had only known the Depression as they were growing up, had their first home-owning experience in these look-alike "track houses". Although standing among others like small green tokens in a Monopoly game played on a vast, empty board, they were highly prized. Purchased with a GI loan, a few hundred dollars in a down payment, and small monthly payments, they represented a future of independence and prosperity. This house at 2116 Park Avenue was in one of the first housing developments in the Lansing neighborhood. Then outside the city limit, around it were open fields of the former farmland. Water was provided by privately owned 70 foot deep well which supplied the immediate area of houses. A young teacher was the first owner of this house, followed by Olga and Hilda Ask, sisters who had retired from farming. In 2010 it was still in possession of the third owners.

When you visit
It is difficult to find one of these homes that has not been substantially altered. In the case of this house, there is additional front room window, one in the kitchen has been modified and there is a wheelchair ramp. On a quiet suburban street, now with sheltering trees, it has an attractive and welcoming appearance and is testimony to the enduring value of these 60 year-old homes. It is in the Lansing neighborhood, north of Market Street.
Although it is now common to see large tracts of homes being built by developers (West Salem, for example), and even modified "row houses" (Grant neighborhood), these were limited concepts in Salem until the post-World War II era. An architect might use a similar design for several houses (Jefferson Pooler on Court Street in 1909-11), but the earliest "mass produced" houses were probably the Sears Catalog Home (1908-1940), which a private builder could order by mail (1724 Chemeketa is a local example). Many of these have retained their original exterior appearance and are designated as Local Landmarks or are qualified for the National Register. Professionals in historic preservation are now applying the same standards to 1940-50s "tract houses" that have retained their integrity of design. They are equally worthy of respect and preservation.

Other Events

• This is the last year for the Salem High School that is about to be razed for the construction of Meier & Frank Department Store, now Macy's. It was located on Marion Street, between High and Church streets.

Portland NAACP delegation, Senator Hitchcock and Representative Mark Hatfield.

• Oregon Assembly Representative, Mark Hatfield, is photographed (above) in a celebration for the Public Accommodations Act, signed this year. He had never forgotten that as a student at Willamette University, his task was to drive Paul Robeson to Portland after a singing engagement at the university. There was no place in Salem for the nationally recognized singer, actor and political activist to sleep that night. The photograph now hangs in the Capitol.
• Detroit Dam is completed by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Santiam River between Linn and Marion County in the Cascade Mountains. It was authorized for flood control. power generation, navigation and irrigation. Other uses include fishery, water quality and recreation. It created a 400-foot deep Detroit Lake more than 9 miles long with 32 miles of shoreline. Nearly 200 residents of the town of Detroit were moved; Highway #22 and the Santiam River were realigned.
• In 1938, Carroll Moores left his lifetime savings of $25,000 as an annuity for a friend and to create a memorial to Oregon pioneers. By this year, the invested sum had reached $34,000. Two art professionals making the selection decided Salem already had enough traditional statuary and suggested Renoir's Venus Victorieuse currently on sale in New York. The citizen uproar that followed was taken up by rival opinions in the newspapers. The Capital Journal newspaper called her "fat and naked". Women’s clubs thought it was undignified. Art teachers tried to get in a few words; so did ex-Governor Sprague. But the uproar grew. Mr. Putnam, publisher of the Capital Journal newspaper, commented that it was "just another art lover sneer at Salem for rejecting an unsuitable memorial to Oregon’s early pioneers." An answering editorial in the rival Salem Oregon Statesman newspaper concludes, "If we want to capitalize on this publicity, perhaps we should set up a base, bearing the label "Venus Unvictorieuse". The Capital Journal newspaper also presents a letter from the Council of National Sculpture Society emphasizing the unsuitability factors." The controversy would not be settled until 1959.

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  Gray House

  The Gray House is constructed at 3251 Bluff Avenue in the Morningside neighborhood. This International style residence was to be a retirement home for builder Paul Gray and his wife. However, Mrs. Gray died two years later and the house was sold to Viola and George Corrigan. Viola, widowed and remarried twice, lived in the house 43 years, walking 2-3 miles a day around the neighborhood. The present owners bought the house from her in 1998.

Salem in 1952

World Events

• King George VI dies. Daughter Elizabeth, on safari in Africa with Prince Phillip, prepares to come home and become Queen Elizabeth II. 
• Republicans Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon win the US presidential election. The U.S. National Security Agency is established. Puerto Rico becomes a self-governing commonwealth of the US. On Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific, the U.S. tests the first hydrogen bomb.
• West Germany has 8 million refugees. East German government announces the formation of National People's army.
• The United Nations meets for the first time in the New York headquarters.
• Eva Peron dies in Argentina and the legend of "Evita" begins.
• Successful Medical Firsts: In Denmark, Christine Jorgensen is recipient of a sexual reassignment procedure. In Ohio, Siamese twins recover from surgical separation. A mechanical heart is used in a human patient.
• "I Love Lucy" is the favorite TV entertainment for 10 million viewers. Academy Awards: "The Greatest Show on Earth" (US) "Forbidden Games" (France). Prize-winning books: From Here to Eternity, James Jones and The Caine Mutiny, Herman Wouk.

In Salem
Family life moves out of the dining room as the TV dinner is introduced by Swanson and little folding tables are set up in front of the TV to watch the "The Jackie Gleason Show" and Edward R. Morrow's "See It Now". National news is made local as General Eisenhower and his wife Mamie make a fifteen-minute stop at our railroad station during his campaign as Republican candidate for president. In the series of photographs taken that day, our Governor McKay is shown prominently as an enthusiastic supporter. After Eisenhower wins the election in November, he appoints the Oregon governor as Secretary of the Interior and Douglas McKay resigns to take up his new duties in Washington, D.C.

When you visit
Our Southern Pacific train station has been the scene of many happy celebrations and tearful goodbyes over the years since the first was built in 1871. It was the place of departure for troops leaving for the Spanish American War in 1898 and for battle veterans' return the next year. It was used for military transport in the both World Wars as well as the mustering station for Americans of Japanese descent who were sent to internment camps in 1942. Tourists and business travelers along the west coast of the United States, and those making connections across the country, have relied on our railroad station. This history has been recognized by the designation of the station building and the freight depot on the National Register of Historic Places. It is included in the self-guided walking tour Salem in Oregon History featured on the SHINE website. This station is on the AMTRAK west coast route.

Other Events

• Salem's city water system is improved by a 54-inch water line and state-of-the-art slow sand filters provided North Santiam River water. The system finally produced high quality drinking water demanded by residents and local industries. Of equal importance was the building of the city's first sewage treatment plant on North Front Street. In 2009 the facility was rebuilt and expanded.

• This year residents of Salem saw the demolition of Marion County Courthouse. The 1873 structure was designed by Wilbur F. Boothby who is also credited with the original Kirkbride Building of the Oregon State Hospital and the Asahel Bush house. In French Renaissance style, popular in the Victorian era to symbolize pride in public buildings, the building rose 136 feet with 33-inch walls. It was topped with a 51-foot cupola containing a clock of four faces and, above that, a wooden statue of Thelma, the Greek god of wisdom. In 1904, this statue was covered with 900 pounds of copper. She was known around the Courthouse by her catalog number, "4762". With the demolition of the courthouse, the clock went to Mt. Angel and the statue to Willamette University where is stands in the lobby of the School of Law. Finally, only the 1924 World War I Doughboy statue is left standing before a pile of rubble. The ornate Courthouse was replaced with a severe structure of Vermont marble and in 2000,when that structure became too small, an annex, Courthouse Square, was completed across Court Street to the north.
• Salem's Municipal Judge, Peery Buren, resigns due to ill health and Douglas Hay is appointed. He will continue in the elective office until 1966.
• The new Marion Street Bridge opens. At that time, this bridge was the longest of its type west of the Mississippi River. The Oregon Pulp and Paper Mill dominates the shoreline and continues to pollute the downtown air.
• The new Statesman Journal building is erected at Chemeketa and Church Streets. The traditional downtown residential neighborhoods are disappearing.
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  Area outlined in blue is described below.

• The third section of Piety Hill has been demolished. Houses were either demolished or moved for the new the State Transportation Building. One of these is the Cora Moores house on Chemeketa Street (She was the daughter of Salem pioneers Obed and Charlotte Dickinson.) Purchased by Ridgely and Wanda Miller, it was transported by Augie Koenig across Bush's Pasture Park to Leffelle Street where it is today. The Frederick Thompson house, a few doors away on Summer Street, was purchased by the Stephens family and was also moved to Leffelle Street by Mr. Koenig and placed next door. (The Thompson house was also the home of Judge James Brand, who served in Nuremburg Trials.) Kathy Miller Reed and her husband, Wallace E. Reed, now live in Thompson/Brand house. The only other house saved in this third section of North Capitol Mall construction was the David Eyre house on Summer Street. You can now see this beautiful home on the northeast corner of High and Mission streets. These three residences are in the Gaiety Hill/Bush's Pasture Park Historic District in the SCAN neighborhood.
• Blue Lake Beans received considerable publicity from association with Lou Costello when he and Abbott made a movie entitled "Jack in the Beanstalk" this year. Both the movie and Blue Lake's beans were promoted at grocery stores and restaurants and Costello had over forty cases of the beans sent to his journalist and radio commentator friends.