DISCOVER

DISCOVER displays photos and descriptions of more than 250 individual historic properties. Local Landmarks (LL), Federal National Register of Historic Places (NR) and potential candidates (D) are designated. Use Search to locate a property by name, street or neighborhood.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Perkins, 198 21st Street NE, (LL)

This house stands on a quiet two-way residential street among others of its age. The property was part of the Waller Donation Land Claim that was subdivided, but never recorded. The owner and resident from the early 1930s was Granville Perkins who worked in the canning industry.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Church of God of Oregon, 1760 State Street, (D)

In 1900 , C. N. Potter and wife deeded this land, a part of the A. F. Waller Donation Land Claim, to the Evangelical Lutheran Christian Church of Salem, Oregon, a corporation, and to D. G. and A. W. Granger. It is assumed the church was built soon after that date. The style is similar to other churches built in the late 1800s in the Salem area. In 1966, the land was acquired by State Street Baptist Church. The transfer to the present congregation was in 1976.
(NEN)

Marion Apartments, 610 Commercial Street NE. (D)

Research is beginning on this 1920 apartment building at the northeast corner of Commercial and Union Streets. The Sanborn map of 1926 shows the footprint as the building today, although the L section at the rear appears to have been constructed at a slightly different, lower elevation. The City Directory shows 16 apartments from the earliest listings.
The apartments show an elegant style that would have been attractive for short stays, such as 1920s state legislators or someone needing temporary quarters, or even the more prosperous commercial travelers: they might have been designed as suites rather than apartments. The rooms have high ceilings, large windows, wooden floors (under carpets), alcoves without doors for closets (some with small windows), small bathrooms and kitchens. Fireplaces are in some units. However, one unit has built-in storage drawers and a roll-out bed behind glass doors.
In 1989, the apartments were sold by Betty Louise Bradshaw, as a personal representative of Elma Childs, to C. Rex and Ruth M. Layton of Marion County. It passed into the ownership of the Boys and Girls Club and then to the present owner.
(CAN-DO)

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Spring Valley Church, Brush College Road, (D)


This area north of West Salem was an important part of the early Salem settlements, close family ties and agricultural history unites these two communities. The old Spring Valley Presbyterian Church was erected by volunteer labor in 1859, the lumber transported by boat to the town of Lincoln on the Willamette River. The bell came from England around Cape Horn to Oregon. It has long been a beacon for worship and its cemetery is still a place for commemorating those who lived in the community in the past.
(West Salem)

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Wild/Erb, 573 19th Street NE, (LL)

Ira Erb, a Union Army Civil War veteran, came to Salem in 1890 from Ohio, purchasing this lot from the Wild family. He bought the Boothby and Stapleton Sash and Frame Co. on Front Street and, with his partner Clarence Van Patten, was involved with a number of buildings in the neighborhood.  He died in Salem on May 25, 1915, and was buried in City View cemetery.  His wife, Hattie (Harriett Myers Erb), remained in the house until her death on November 21, 1941.After several owners, it was sold to Lloyd Chapman in 1978. Mr. Chapman has compiled a complete history of the house. (SESNA)

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Fawk, 310 Lincoln Street S, (NR)

The 1902 Fawk House at 310 Lincoln Street sits on a prominent corner overlooking Lincoln and Fir Streets. It has a Dutch Colonial gambrel roof and a stone chimney which serves three rooms inside. Henry Fawk was a well-known contractor and livestock broker. Eventually, this was the boyhood home of Ross McIntyre, Surgeon General of the United States and physician to President Franklin Roosevelt. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
(SCAN)