Salem Government #28: Fairview Training Center

The Oregon State Institute for the Feeble Minded was established by the Oregon State Legislature in 1908 and opened on December of that year. The name was changed in 1935 to Oregon Fairview Home. It was renamed Fairview Hospital & Training Center in 1965 and the name was simplified to Fairview Training Center in 1979. The facility treated patients who weren't quite insane, but couldn't fully function on their own. Many of the residents were children. The facility's able-bodied residents grew the facility's own food on site and were trained in useful skills. The 270-acre site was made up of 60 buildings and housed as many as 3,000 residents. The Fairview Training Center closed after the last resident left on February 24, 2000.

A 32-acre portion of the property is being converted into the Pringle Creek Community. The sustainable development will include community gardens, parks, mixed-use and community buildings, rowhouses, cottages, live-work lofts and single-family homes, all LEED certified. Twelve of the 32 areas are set aside for green space. The community will also include a Sustainable Living Center, a community-based educational nonprofit providing classes, workshops and activities. The community was named Land Development of the Year by the National Association of Home Builders.

The main halls of the Fairview Training Center were called "cottages." LeBreton was the first, built in 1908. I am not sure how many total cottages were built. Some of the cottages, including some of the earliest, were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s. As of 2010, nine of the cottages built between 1908 and 1931 are still standing.

Name	Built	Architect
LeBreton Cottage	1908	Walter David Pugh
Chamberlain Cottage	1913	William Christmas Knighton
Withycombe Cottage	1918	Charles Henry Burggraf
Hoff Cottage	1919	Frederick Arthur Legg
Olcott Cottage	1919	Frederick Arthur Legg
Kozer Cottage	1920	Frederick Arthur Legg
Smith Cottage	1921	Frederick Arthur Legg
Kay Cottage	1925	Frederick Arthur Legg
Holman Cottage	1931	Frederick Arthur Legg

Pierce Cottage, designed by Frederick A. Legg and built in 1923, was destroyed by arson on January 27, 2010.

I only have pictures of a few of the cottages. Each of the cottages that I have a picture of will be covered in its own post.

LeBreton Cottage
Chamberlain Cottage
Withycombe Cottage
Kozer Cottage
Smith Cottage
Painters’ Hall
Carpentry Shop
Sawdust Building
Root House
Greenhouses
LEED Platinum House

Additional Links:
Fairview Training Center at Salem Online History
Fairview Training Center gallery by "unkannyvalley" on Flickr

Continue to LeBreton Cottage…