Historic Downtown Salem #49: Roth Company Building

120 Liberty Street NE

Roth Company Building on September 4, 2006

In 1900, Theodore and Emil J. Roth joined with Peter E. Graber in the grocery business, operating in a retail store in the 400 block of State Street. By the early 1910s, the Roths had partnered with L. H. Barnett and Edward Schunke. The Roth Company was organized with Theodore Roth as president, Emil Roth as vice president, L. H. Barnett as director, and Edward Schunke as manager. The Roth Company purchased this property from Clarence S. Hamilton in February 1912, and this two-story brick building was built in 1916. The building originally housed the Roth Company grocery store on the ground floor. At one time a temporary jail was located on the second floor and some of the second floor windows still have bars. The Roth Company remained in this building through the 1920s. At that time, the YMCA occupied the second floor. The Roth Company, Inc., moved to the 200 block of High Street in the 1930s, and Theodore Roth became president-manager of the Willamette Grocery Company, Inc., on South Cottage Street by the early 1940s. The Roth Company retained ownership of this building into the 1970s. It became part of the Woolworth’s store which also occupied the McGilchrist Building next door. Today the building is home to Jonathan's Long Bar.

Roth Company Building on January 23, 2009

Historical Photos:
Roth Co. Building, February 15, 1959 (Salem Public Library)

Continue to 50: McGilchrist Building…