Historic Downtown Salem #76: Arthur H. Moore Building

237-245 High Street NE

Arthur H. Moore Building on September 9, 2006

The Arthur H. Moore Building was built in 1924. Arthur H. Moore was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1873 to State Supreme Court Judge F. A. Moore and Emma Moore. When Arthur was four years old, the family moved to St. Helens, Oregon. Arthur married Elida Ryan in 1896 and the couple moved to Salem in 1898, where Arthur worked as an independent carpenter, and later worked for the Oregon State Hospital. In 1912, Arthur Moore opened a bicycle shop in the Skiff Block at 421 Court Street. In 1923, Arthur and Elida Moore bought parts of two lots here from Thomas G. and Anna Bligh and F. C. and Mary J. Stone. A one-story house was on the parcel, which Moore presumably removed in order to build this building in 1924.

Arthur H. Moore Building on September 9, 2006

Moore moved his bicycle shop into the ground-level shop at 241 High Street and rented apartments on the second floor. In the late 1920s, the Moores took up residence on the second floor themselves. Arthur Moore was active in Salem civic and social activities, served on the Salem City Council and on the Salem Civil Service Commission. In 1946, Moore expanded his bicycle shop to include hunting, fishing, boating and camping equipment. Elida Moore died in the late 1930s. The couple’s two daughters, Ruth Moore and Helen Bradley, acquired the property in the early 1940s, and Arthur Moore died following a lengthy illness in 1949. The building’s storefront area was apparently significantly altered around 1980. Recent occupants include a shoe repair shop and Pocket Money payday loans & check cashing.

Continue to Government Buildings & Facilities in Salem, Oregon…

Historic Downtown Salem #75: T.G. Bligh Building

223-233 High Street NE

T.G. Bligh Building on September 4, 2006

Thomas Gregor Bligh moved his family from Canada to Portland in 1904 and then to Salem in 1908. T. G. Bligh and his son Frank D. Bligh, born in 1890, opened the Star Theater and later the Liberty Theater. In 1912 the Blighs built the Bligh Hotel and Theater on the north side of State Street between High and Liberty Streets. Bligh bought this property in August, 1922 from the Salem Elks, who had a lodge building here. Bligh built this Mission Revival style building in 1923. In November 1924, Bligh was killed in an automobile accident and the property passed to his wife, Anna Bligh. She sold the building to Charles P. Bishop in March 1927.

Charles P. Bishop was born in Contra Costa, California, in 1854 and came to Oregon with his parents in 1856, growing up on a Linn County farm. He came to Salem in 1889 where, as Thomas Kay's son-in-law, he helped build and operate the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill. In 1891, Bishop bought the Salem Woolen Mills Store that evolved into Bishop’s men’s furnishings store. Bishop served as mayor of Salem from 1899 to 1906, as an Oregon state senator from 1915 to 1918, and as a trustee of Willamette University for three decades. Between 1909 and 1920, Bishop and his sons Clarence, Roy, and Chauncey, purchased three woolen mills: the Oregon Worsted Company in the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, the Washougal Woolen Mill in Washougal, Washington, and the Eureka Woolen Mills in Eureka, California. Charles Bishop died in 1941 at the age of 87. His family now owns Pendleton Woolen Mills.

T.G. Bligh Building Street Clock on September 4, 2006

Businesses housed in this building have included Ohmart & Calaba Real Estate, Clark's Sandwich Shop, Kay Typewriter Company, and Olson Florist, Inc., which has been here since 1926. The street clock was made by the Electric Time Company of Medfield, Massachusetts, and features a T-style face and WS-style hands. The T. G. Bligh Building passed from the Bishops Clothing Woolen Mill to the Franklin Group in 1980.

Additional Links:
T.G. Bligh Building at Salem Online History

Historical Photos:
Portrait of Thomas Gregory Bligh (Oregon State Library)
T.G. Bligh Building, unknown date (Salem Public Library)
Parade Float at T.G. Bligh Building, 11/26/55 (Salem Library)
T.G. Bligh Building, 1962 Columbus Day storm (Salem Library)

Continue to 76: Arthur H. Moore Building…

Historic Downtown Salem #74: Meyers & D’Arcy Buildings

455-467 Court Street NE

Meyers Building & D’Arcy Building on September 4, 2006

Joseph Meyers brought his family to Salem in 1880 and purchased the general merchandise store at the “White Corner” at the corner of Commercial and Court Street. Two of his sons, Henry W. Meyers and Milton Meyers, purchased his store in 1906. The Miller Mercantile Company bought the store in 1920.

This property was the site of the old Marion County Courthouse and two smaller buildings. Joseph Meyers bought the property in late 1897 when the old buildings till stood, and had the Meyers Building (pictured on the left) built on the site in 1906.

Salem lawyer Peter H. D'Arcy bought this property from Joseph Meyers in September 1908 and built the D'Arcy building during the following year as a 1-1/2-story building that housed the Wexford Theatre. By 1926, the building had been renovated to a full two-story building with a very different Revival-style facade and went on to house Good Housekeeping Furniture and Appliances. Peter D’Arcy died in 1933 and his wife Teresa died less than three years later.

Today the Meyers Building and the D’Arcy Building house Whitlock's Vacuum Cleaner Clinic and Sewing Center.

Additional Links:
D'Arcy Building at Salem Online History

Historical Photos:
Portrait of Peter H. D'Arcy (Oregon State Library)
Portrait of Peter H. D'Arcy (Oregon State Library)
D'Arcy Building, 1915 (Salem Public Library)

Continue to 75: T.G. Bligh Building…

Historic Downtown Salem #73: Odd Fellows Hall

185-195 High Street NE

Odd Fellows Hall on September 4, 2006

Chemeketa Lodge No. 1 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows was designed by Walter D. Pugh and John Gray of Salem in the Richardian Romanesque style and was built in 1900 by Erixon and Van Patten. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), a fraternal order that provided members with benefits for illness, funerals and various other community services, was founded in Salem in 1852 and has been located on this site since 1869. The building was originally topped by a large bell tower, which was removed after being damaged in a January 31, 1937 snowstorm.

A one-story brick addition was built on the west side in the fall of 1900 measuring 24 feet along Court Street by 80 feet deep. This addition originally contained two stores that shared a common entrance. The Grand Opera House opened on November 29, 1900, with John Philip Sousa’s comic operetta “El Capitan.” At the time, Salem had a population of 4,258, and opera admissions ranged from $1.00 for orchestra seats to 25 cents for the highest gallery seats. The first offices in the Odd Fellows Hall were rented by Dr. Grace Albright on March 1, 1901, and by Dr. W.H. Byrd on March 16, 1901. The corner retail space was rented in July 1901 to Fred Haas who operated a drug store. The space remained occupied by drug stores for over 60 years, including the Opera House Pharmacy and the Wiles Drug Store. Other occupants of the building included tailor D. H. Mosher from 1908 to 1942, cobbler V. E. Kuhn from 1920 to 1956, a barbershop, a jewelry store, and Roen’s Typewriters. In later years, the building was also used as a bus station. Income from the rental of the opera house, retail shops and office space supported the work of the Odd Fellows.

In 1922, a concrete addition was added to the original addition on the west side of the building. The Grand Opera House began showing silent movies in the 1920s, becoming the Grand Theater, and the Grand String Orchestra often accompanied them. Once movies with sound were introduced, stage shows were presented in the afternoon with movies screened at night. When the Elsinore Theater opened in 1927, the crowds began to abandon the Grand Theater. James DeYoung redesigned the Grand Theater in 1935. In 1935-1937 Frank H. Strubble made revisions to the building, the addition to the west, and the Central State Terminal and Hotel to the south. He made further revisions in 1951, and James L. Payne made further revisions in 1952. The Grand Theater finally closed in the late 1950s. In the early 1960s, the Grand Theater reopened as a venue for Salem wrestling matches, which continued until 1984 when the building became the venue for the Salem Theater of Performing Arts. The Odd Fellows Hall was placed on the National register of Historic Places on April 8, 1988. The IOOF sold the building in 1995, moving to a new lodge building in West Salem. Today this building is home to the Grand Ballroom. It is one of only two remaining buildings in the commercial district designed in Richardsonian Romanesque style.

Additional Links:
Oddfellows at Salem Online History
Grand Theatre at Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society
Grand Theatre at the Salem Online Community Guide

Historical Photos:
Odd Fellows Hall, 1903 (Oregon State Library)
Odd Fellows Hall, 1920s (Salem Public Library)
Odd Fellows Hall, 1932 (Salem Public Library)
Odd Fellows Hall, 1992 (Salem Public Library)

Continue to 74: Meyers & D’Arcy Building…

Historic Downtown Salem #72: Central Stage Terminal & Hotel

181 High Street NE

Central Stage Terminal & Hotel on September 4, 2006

The three-story Mediterranean style Central Stage Terminal and Hotel was designed by Morris H. Whitehouse and was built 1921 as a bus depot and hotel addition to the Odd Fellows Hall next door. The first floor originally had an entrance for a restaurant on the south, a hotel and bus depot entrance in the center, and a store entrance on the north. The hotel rooms were on the second floor and the third floor was used by the Odd Fellows as a billiards room and library.

The Central Stage Terminal and Hotel Company was incorporated on September 10, 1921 by J. E. Lewis, L. R. Applegate, and John H. Carson. By 1925, W. W. Chadwick was president of the company and Richard Shepard of Eugene was secretary/treasurer. The company leased the facility for $650, and subleased the space to auxiliary businesses, including a barber shop, a coffee shop, and a cigar ship. In 1928, Chadwick moved the business across the street to the Senator Hotel building at the corner of High and Court, and from then on the Chemeketa Lodge used the hotel. Frank H. Strubble made revisions to this building and the Odd Fellows Hall to the north in 1935-1937 and again in 1951, and James L. Payne made more revisions in 1952.

Continue to 73: Odd Fellows Hall…

Historic Downtown Salem #71: Masonic Temple

101 High Street NE

Masonic Temple on September 4, 2006

Designed by architect Ellis F. Lawrence, founder and first dean of the University of Oregon School of Architecture, the Masonic Temple was constructed in 1912. This Mediterranean/Moorish style building is constructed of reinforced concrete faced with brick and terra cotta detailing. Originally the building had stores on the ground floor, offices on the second through fifth floor, and a lodge room on the sixth floor. The building featured Oregon-made goods and materials wherever possible, and had all the modern conveniences of the time, including hot and cold running water, gas and electric lights, electric power and an elevator.

Masonic Temple on September 4, 2006

The ground floor went on to be occupied by the Benjamin Franklin Savings & Loan, and today the building is known as the Franklin Building. The brick facades on the west and north elevations, facing parking lots, have been covered with stucco, and stair/elevator towers have been added. The building was vacant for a number of years, but most of the building now contains offices, with a ballroom on the top floor. The Willamette Valley Bank occupies the ground floor.

Additional Links:
Masonic Building at Salem Online History
Masonic Building at the Salem Oregon Community Guide

Historical Photos:
Masonic Lodge Building (Oregon State Library)
Masonic Building, 1973 (Salem Public Library)

Continue to 72: Central Stage Terminal & Hotel…

Historic Downtown Salem #70: Kelly Services Building

456 State Street

Kelly Services Building on September 4, 2006

This two-story building is the Kelly Services Building. It was built in 1967.

Continue to 71: Masonic Temple…

Historic Downtown Salem #69: Hubbard Building

494 State Street

Hubbard Building on September 4, 2006

This four-story Commercial style building was built in 1913. Architects W. P. Dawson and Matt Flanagan reportedly designed this building in association with well-known Oregon architect Ellis F. Lawrence. The building was originally owned by Fannie E. Hubbard, wife of Thomas Hubbard. The building served as the original Salem depot for the Oregon Electric Railway, which ran from Portland to Eugene with tracks running down High Street in Salem. The building also housed the Globe Theater from 1913 to 1915. The theater reopened in 1917 as the Oregon Theater. Fannie Hubbard sold the building in 1918. A Wurlitzer organ was shipped to the Oregon Theater in September 1919. Harry M. Hawkins and Thomas Roberts bought the building in 1921. During their ownership, the building housed Metropolitan Stores, Sears, and various law offices, including the Hawkins and Roberts firm which had its offices on the second floor of the building from the 1920s to the 1940s. The Wurlitzer organ was removed from the Oregon Theater in 1925, and parts of its were used in the new organ at the Elsinore Theater. The Oregon Theater closed in 1928. Harry Hawkins moved to Portland in the late 1930s, and in the late 1950s, Hawkins and Roberts traded this building for the Senator Hotel (now demolished) at the corner of State and High Streets. Later, the building was a Sears store, a record store and a Pay Less drug store, Cupboard Cafe, Zilka Smither Investment Company, and a barber shop.

Additional Links:
Oregon Theatre at Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society

Historical Photos:
Hubbard Building, 1907 (Salem Public Library)
Hubbard Building, circa 1930 (Salem Public Library)
Hubbard Building, unknown date (Salem Public Library)
Oregon Building, 1951 (Salem Public Library)
Oregon Building, unknown date (Salem Public Library)

Continue to 70: Kelly Services Building…

Historic Downtown Salem #68: Capitol Theater Site

542 State Street

Former site of the Capitol Theater on September 9, 2006

Bligh's Capitol Theater opened on October 5, 1926, and featured a Wurlitzer organ. It became the Warner Bros. Capitol Theater in 1930. In 1941, the organ was moved to the Civic Ice Arena in Seattle. By 1952, the capitol dome marquee had been replaced by a new marquee. The Capitol Theater was demolished in 2001, though the stage house remains, with the opening from the proscenium arch blocked up. Some other traces can be seen on the wall of the Bligh Building, including the outline of the balcony and a column from the theater facade.

Additional Links:
Capitol Theatre at Cinema Treasures
Capitol Theatre at Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society

Historical Photos:
State Street & Capitol Theater, c. 1926 (Oregon Historical Society)
Capitol Theater, 1926-1927 (Salem Public Library)
Capitol Theater, 1927 (Salem Public Library)
Capitol Theater, 1928 (Salem Public Library)
Capitol Theater, 1939 (Salem Public Library)
Capitol Theater Interior, 1940 (Salem Public Library)
Capitol Theater, May 30, 1941 (Salem Public Library)
Capitol Theater Marquee for 1952 movie (Salem Public Library)
Capitol Theater, June 1980 (American Classic Images)

Continue to 69: Hubbard Building…

Historic Downtown Salem #67: Bligh Building

508-524 State Street

Bligh Building on September 4, 2006

Thomas Gregor Bligh moved his family from Canada to Portland in 1904 and then to Salem in 1908. T. G. Bligh and his son Frank D. Bligh, born in 1890, opened the Star Theater and later the Liberty Theater. In 1912 the Blighs built the Bligh Hotel and Theater on the north side of State Street between High and Liberty Streets. Following the death of T. G. Bligh in a November 1924 automobile accident, Frank D. Bligh took over the family’s hotel and theater business.

This corner was originally the site of a large two-story brick building that was set back from State Street. This building was originally built in 1864 as a hotel called the Monroe House. It was later renamed Cook’s House, and finally became the Hotel Salem. Frank D. Bligh and his mother, Anna Bligh, bought the property and demolished the Hotel Salem in 1926 in order to build this 21,438 square foot building that same year. Walter C. & Lottie D. Winslow bought the building in 1945 and it passed to their son Norman, who sold it to Samuel Blair and T. K. Haenny in 1976. This building once housed the Blue Bird Cafe.

Additional Links:
Bligh Building at Salem Online History

Historical Photos:
Cook's Hotel at State & High in 1890 (Salem Public Library)

Continue to 68: Capitol Theater Site…

Historic Downtown Salem #66: Elsinore Theater

170 High Street SE

Elsinore Theater on September 4, 2006

The Tudor Gothic Revival style Elsinore Theater was designed by Ellis F. Lawrence (a graduate of MIT and the founder and first dean of the University of Oregon School of Architecture) and Fred S. Allyn of the Lawrence & Holford firm of Portland and was built by owner George B. Guthrie, a Portland lawyer that graduated from Harvard Law School, at a cost of $250,000.

Elsinore Theater on September 4, 2006

The theater was designed for both stage and film, and featured the largest stage between San Francisco and Portland when it was new. It is named for the Danish castle from Shakespeare's Hamlet, which it was designed to resemble.

Elsinore Theater on March 8, 2006

The theater’s original exterior was stucco with slivers of glass inlaid to sparkle in the mid-day sun and the evening theater lighting. The marquee was originally made of copper by Carl Armpriest of Salem.

Elsinore Theater on March 8, 2006

The theater opened on May 28, 1926, showing Cecil B. DeMille's silent film The Volga Boatman. For a time, movies were combined with vaudeville. Celebrities who have appeared at the Elsinore include John Philip Sousa, Clark Gable and Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy.

Elsinore Theater Lobby on March 8, 2006

The Elsinore is the second largest historic movie theater remaining in Oregon today, exceeded only by Portland’s Paramount Theater, now the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

Elsinore Theater Lobby on March 8, 2006

The Elsinore's castle-like main lobby is dominated by towering stone gothic arches and vaulted ceilings 25 feet in the air.

Elsinore Theater Lobby on March 8, 2006

Blue indirect lighting is hidden in the capitals of the columns in the lobby.

Elsinore Theater Lobby on March 8, 2006

This blue lighting reacts with the dark tones of the vaulted ceilings to give the illusion of a night sky.

Elsinore Theater Lobby Mural on March 8, 2006

Large murals tower over the grand staircases at each end of the lobby, depicting the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet and the witches scene from MacBeth.

Elsinore Theater Lobby Mural on March 8, 2006

These murals are over 20 feet tall.

Elsinore Theater stained-glass exit sign on March 22, 2006

The Elsinore Theater features Povey Brothers stained glass windows. I've only been inside the Elsinore at night, when the exterior windows can't really be photographed, but here is a Povey stained-glass EXIT sign on one of the balcony levels.

Elsinore Theater auditorium on March 8, 2006

Elsinore Theater auditorium on March 8, 2006

Elsinore Theater auditorium on March 8, 2006

Elsinore Theater balconies on May 10, 2006

The Elsinore Theater's Auditorium features two balcony levels.

Elsinore Theater organ on May 10, 2006

The Elsinore was originally equipped with a Wurlitzer organ that remained into the theater until the late 1960s. Another Wurlitzer was donated and installed in the theater in 1986 by Rick and Clayton Parks.

Elsinore Theater organ console on May 10, 2006

This is the console.

Elsinore Theater marquee on March 8, 2006

After being in decline and deteriorating for years, the Elsinore was nearly demolished in the early 1980s. The Save the Elsinore Committee was formed to raise community awareness of the theater and raise funds for its restoration. The organization gained the support of owner Tom Moyer and eventually raised the funds for an initial restoration, which included a restoration of the marquee and painting of the facade in 1984. The facade painting covered the inlaid glass slivers in the stucco facade.

Elsinore Theater handprints on September 4, 2006

The Friends of the Elsinore celebrated the completion of a $130,000 restoration with a "hand-in-the-cement" ceremony on May 29, 1986. The ceremony included Raymond Barton, Aubray Pierce, Roger Gertenrich, Jerry Proctor, Sue Miller, Tom Moyer, Victor Atiyeh, Mark O. Hatfield and Gerry Frank.

Elsinore Theater restoration plaque on September 4, 2006

Tom Moyer sold his theaters to Act III Theaters in the late 1980s. The Save the Elsinore Committee merged with the Salem Community Auditorium Committee to form STAGE: the Salem Theater Auditorium Group Enterprise, which bought the Elsinore from Act III in 1993 through a grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust.

Elsinore Theater National Register plaque on September 4, 2006

The Elsinore Theater was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1994. The theater began operating as a performing arts center, but was still in need of a major restoration. Gregory Peck gave the final performance of his career at the Elsinore in 2000, and James Earl Jones and Bernadette Peters appeared in 2001. From 2002 to 2004, a complete restoration of the theater was performed, returning it to its original glory.

Additional Links:
Elsinore Theater at Salem Online History
Elsinore Theater at the Salem Oregon Community Guide
Elsinore Theatre at Cinema Treasures
Elsinore Theatre at CinemaTour
Elsinore Theatre at Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society

Historical Photos:
Elsinore Theater lobby (Oregon State Library)
Elsinore Theater lobby (Oregon State Library)
Elsinore Theater Interior, 1926 (Salem Public Library)
Elsinore Theatre, 1930 (Salem Public Library)
High Street & Elsinore Theatre, 1935-1940 (Salem Public Library)
Elsinore after 1962 Columbus Day Storm (Salem Public Library)
Elsinore Theatre, October 4, 1991 (Salem Public Library)
Elsinore Theatre, 1992 (Salem Public Library)
Elsinore Theatre, 1992 (Salem Public Library)

Continue to 67: Bligh Building…

Historic Downtown Salem #65: J. Hughes New Salem Hotel

153-191 High Street SE

J. Hughes New Salem Hotel on September 4, 2006

John Hughes was born in 1831 and started west toward California in 1852. Instead he came to Portland, Oregon, that fall and settled in Marion County. In 1857 he married Emma Pringle and they farmed for seven years before John Hughes opened a store in Salem in 1863 selling groceries, paints, oils and other goods. He operated this business for forty years and also built a commercial block, part of a bank block, and had an interest in the Salem Flouring Mill. He died in the early 1900s as the oldest merchant in Salem. His daughter Lulu Bush presided over the John Hughes Company, which was founded in 1906, with J. Frank Hughes as secretary-treasurer. By the 1920s, J. Frank Hughes was managing the John Hughes Company.

J. Hughes New Salem Hotel on April 7, 2007

This site was originally the site of several woodframe Chinese shops, a restaurant, and a Chinese cabin. The John Hughes Company built the current building on the site in 1924. Originally, retail shops occupied the ground floor with the New Salem Hotel on the second floor with a first floor lobby on High Street facing the Elsinore Theater. The John Hughes Company owned this building until the mid-1940s. The J. Hughes New Salem Hotel is now inside the Downtown Historic District. Businesses housed here include the Jaquith Music Company.

Historical Photos:
Hughes Building, 1945 (Salem Public Library)

Continue to 66: Elsinore Theater…

Historic Downtown Salem #64: Vick Building

525 Trade Street SE

Vick Building on April 7, 2007

The Vick Building is located about a block outside the Downtown Historic District. The 35,076 square foot masonry building was designed by architect Fred Legg and built in 1920 to house the Vick Brothers automobile and tractor dealership.

Vick Building on April 7, 2007

The building is named for Charles Vick, an early Salem businessman. Vick donated $500 to the American Red Cross for the honor of being the first motorist to cross the Center Street Bridge at its dedication on July 29, 1918, driving a Fordson tractor.

Vick Building on April 7, 2007

In 1986 the building was acquired by Vernon Hills II Associates of Los Angeles, California. Roger Yost purchased the building in April 2008 for $4.5 million. Yost had previously invested in the restorations of the Reed Opera House and the Capitol Center.

Vick Building on April 7, 2007

By October 2008, the building had been repainted in a suede color with chocolate brown and beige accents, which is believed to be similar to the original color. It is currently leased to the State of Oregon Judicial Department and the Office of Private Health Partnerships.

Vick Building on April 7, 2007

Historical Photos:
Vick Building, August 14, 1977 (Salem Public Library)

Continue to 65: J. Hughes New Salem Hotel…

Historic Downtown Salem #63: Crystal Garden Ballroom

210 Liberty Street SE

Crystal Garden Ballroom on September 9, 2006

Just outside the Downtown Historic District is this building at the corner of Liberty and Ferry, which was the Crystal Garden Ballroom. It featured dancing on the main and second floors and a swimming pool in the basement. Later, the main floor was home to the Merritt Davis School of Commerce.

Additional Links:
Crystal Ballroom at Discover-Neighborhood-History

Historical Photos:
Crystal Garden Ballroom, July 21, 1961 (Salem Public Library)

Continue to 64: Vick Building…

Historic Downtown Salem #62: Phoenix Grand Hotel (Salem Armory Site)

201 Liberty Street SE

Phoenix Grand Hotel on September 6, 2006

Just outside the Downtown Historic District, the Phoenix Grand Hotel was built at a cost of $17 million and opened in March 2005. The Phoenix Grand Hotel features 193 rooms and is attached to the Salem Conference Center. It is built on the site of the Salem Armory. The Armory was dedicated on June 17, 1912. It was demolished in 1962 and the Marion Motor Hotel was built in its place. The motel was demolished in 2004 for the new Phoenix Grand Hotel.

Phoenix Grand Hotel on April 7, 2007

Historical Photos:
Salem Armory, 1911 (Salem Public Library)
Salem Armory, June 17, 1912 (Salem Public Library)
Salem Armory, 1915 (Salem Public Library)
Salem Armory, 1959 (Salem Public Library)
Salem Armory, August 1961 (Salem Public Library)
Marion Motor Hotel, 1975-1980 (Salem Public Library)

Continue to 63: Crystal Garden Ballroom…

Historic Downtown Salem #61: Checks Cashed Building

198 Liberty Street SE

198 Liberty Street SE on September 9, 2006

This two-story reinforced concrete commercial building was built in 1920 and was remodeled in the 1950s or 1960s and again in the 1980s, significantly altering its appearance. The building is currently the home of a check cashing business.

Additional Links:
Checks Cashed Building at Salem Online History

Continue to 62: Phoenix Grand Hotel (Salem Armory Site)…

Historic Downtown Salem #60: Quisenberry Pharmacy

150 Liberty Street SE

Quisenberry Pharmacy on September 9, 2006

The two-story Quisenberry Pharmacy building was built in 1926, but was significantly altered by the 1980s with a stucco finish. This family-owned pharmacy has been here for a very long time.

Historical Photos:
Quisenberry Pharmacy, 1979 (Salem Public Library)

Continue to 61: Checks Cashed Building…

Historic Downtown Salem #59: Gray Building

105-135 Liberty Street NE

Gray Building on September 4, 2006

This Italianate style building was built in 1891 for brothers Charles A. Gray, George B. Gray and William T. Gray. The building features cast-iron columns at the corners produced by the Albany Iron Works of Albany, Oregon.

In the late 1880s, Charles A. Gray was superintendent of the Salem Street Railway Company, George B. Gray was a realtor, and William T. Gray was a capitalist. Charles and George Gray were operated a hardware business in this building, while their brother William T. Gray worked as a general contractor. The Gray Brothers left Salem by 1907.

In early 1900, Charles Gray sold the building to Russell Catlin and James R. Lynn, Salem hop growers and merchants who did business under the name Catlin and Lynn. By 1914, the building had been broken up into four shops on the ground floor with offices on the second floor. Catlin acquired Lynn’s interest in the building a few years later, and the present owners are direct descendants of Catlin. Hartman Jeweler was once located here. Today it is The Brick Bar & Broiler.

Continue to 60: Quisenberry Pharmacy…

Historic Downtown Salem #58: Pomeroy Building

379-383 State Street

Pomeroy Building on September 4, 2006

This building was built in 1860 as a boarding house. Early tenants included Miller Hayden of the Real Silk Hosiery Company who later became a lawyer and state district judge, insurance agent and notary public Fred Binyon who later served as an assistant attorney general attached to the Oregon State Insurance Department for 17 years, and attorney C. F. Gillette who was city attorney for Monmouth, Oregon. The building was purchased by jeweler Charles T. Pomeroy and A. A. Keene in 1925, and was remodeled in 1926. Pomeroy & Keene Jewelry remained here until the 1990s, managed by Charles Pomeroy’s daughter Audrey Pomeroy. Her brother, an optician, had a shop here too for a time. The street clock is a model 13404 built by the Brown Street Clock Company of Monessen, Pennsylvania.

Pomeroy Building Street Clock on September 4, 2006

Historical Photos:
Pomeroy Building, 1941 (Salem Public Library)

Pomeroy Building Street Clock on September 4, 2006

Continue to 59: Gray Building…