As the city of Salem prepares to dedicate its new cherry blossom-inspired flag at the 50th Civic Center anniversary next week, city historic preservation officer Kimberli Fitzgerald explains how the city’s original 1972 flag came to be.
Tag: SALEM HISTORY
LOCAL HISTORY: Almost 170 years ago, Marion County was a leader in reviving Oregon fairs
Oliver Standing, 2, of Forest Grove, leans in to pet a calf at the Marion County Fair in 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) As the Marion County Fair runs this weekend, Salem Reporter asked Craig Smith of the Willamette Genealogical Society for an overview of the fair’s history. View our coverage[Read More…]
Now underway, mission school excavation yielding more questions
David Winkler, a graduate student in archaeology, excavates a pit at Willamette Heritage Center on April 8, 2022 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Archaeology typically doesn’t involve whips, rolling boulders, pits full of snakes or priceless historical relics. In contrast to the Indiana Jones image many Americans were raised with, the real[Read More…]
COLUMN: Salem’s Qing Ming celebration returns to honor local Chinese history
Salem residents celebrate Qing Ming on April 3, 2021 at Pioneer Cemetery (Courtesy photo) In 2017, as part of an effort to better understand the history of some of Salem’s underrepresented communities, the City of Salem’s Historic Landmarks Commission decided to learn more about Salem’s Chinese community. As a city[Read More…]
LOCAL HISTORY: The Salem couple who filed Oregon’s first civil rights suit – and won
A Jan. 25, 1964 Oregon Statesman article shows the McKenzies, a Salem couple who filed Oregon’s first civil rights suit after their application to rent a west Salem apartment was denied. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made a lasting contribution to our nation and to Oregon. He was the nation’s[Read More…]
Book revisits 12 of Salem’s most sensational murder cases
Cherry City Confidential: 12 Murder Cases that Rocked Oregon’s Capital City (Courtesy of Jan McComb) Jan McComb was walking through Minto-Brown Island Park and listening to a true crime audiobook when she decided to read up on the most infamous murders in Salem’s history. “I thought, Salem is a different[Read More…]
COLUMN: Downtown Salem’s final alley: Antsit’ak Alley
A Kalapuya woven basket (Chris Bailey/Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde) In 2019, the Salem Main Street Association asked residents to suggest names for downtown alleys and vote for their favorites. About 600 people weighed in. As part of Salem Reporter’s local history series, Jacqueline Heavey, chair of the design[Read More…]
SALEM HISTORY: Readers quickly identify Salemites in “mystery” Elsinore photo
A no-longer- mystery photo from Willamette Heritage Center’s collections. (WHC X2021.006.0001) On Friday, Salem Reporter ran a column asking for reader help identifying the people in the above photo from Willamette Heritage Center’s collections. Readers were quick to respond, and Kylie Pine, WHC curator, has an update: The Willamette Heritage[Read More…]
SALEM HISTORY: New downtown alley names pay homage to city’s first steel building, theater that burned
The Wexford Theater in 1911 (Oregon Statesman, Jan. 1, 1911) In 2019, the Salem Main Street Association asked residents to suggest names for downtown alleys and vote for their favorites. About 600 people weighed in. As part of Salem Reporter’s local history series, Jacqueline Heavey, chair of the design committee for the project,[Read More…]
New exhibit tracks the once unlikely rise of Oregon’s wine industry
A worker inspects a Redwood tank full of wine at Salem’s Honeywood Winery. (Courtesy/Willamette Heritage Center Library and Archive Collections) Standing in the Mission Mill Museum in the Willamette Heritage Center, Kyle Pine noted that Oregon’s wine industry is worth $5.6 billion in the state, according to one study. But[Read More…]
