Potential Alley Names€¦ · Potential Alley Names: Salem, Oregon Downtown Alley Naming Project...

Celebrate Salem’s Alleys – Historical Report

Potential Alley Names:

Salem, Oregon Downtown Alley Naming Project

Report on suggested historic names.

Compiled June 2019 by Salem Historic Landmarks Staff in support of the Salem Main Street Association alley-naming

project. These suggested names are based on buildings or people which have a locational tie to the identified block.

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5

4

3

7

6

8


Alley 1:

Alley 1, Option A: Electric Alley- named for the Electric Building (also known as Yeater or PGE Building) and Electric Apartments that face along Liberty St. NE

Portland Railway, Light & Power company erected the “Electric Building,” located at 241-249 Liberty St NE, in 1917. At the opening reception, Mrs. M. E. Hawley, official demonstrator and domestic teacher, baked a variety of baked goods for guests to “demonstrate the efficiency of electricity.” Mrs. Hawley made the Portland Rose cake, the Salem Cherry, and the new Edison cake. Guests described the Edison as very light.1

In the mid-1950s, a tenant covered the façade and the “Electric Apartments” inscription near the roofline was hidden until 2006 when a developer remodeled the building.2

A view of the Electric Building as it appeared in 1939. (Ben Maxwell Photo Collection, Salem Public Library, 1419)

1 “Cakes baked at reception,” Oregon Statesman, September 23, 1917, p. 3. 2 “Renovation reveals history,” Statesman Journal, August 15, 2006, p. 13.


Alley One, Option B: Eldriedge Alley- Named for the Eldriedge Block. The north half of the block was demolished to build Chemeketa Parkade

Originally called the “Exchange Block,” Mr. Eldriedge constructed this building, the south half of which is still extant, in 1889.3 After Mr. Eldriedge died in 1890, the name Eldridge Block was colloquially adopted to honor his memory.4

In 1954, the north half of this building was razed to make room for the new Chemeketa Parkade.5

Alley One, Option C: Stuesloff Alley- The Stuesloff building is located at 399 Court Street.

F. W. Steusloff erected this building in 1902 to house the Steusloff Bros. Butcher and Meat Market. Part of their advertising included mention of “the most complete cold storage” in Oregon. 6 The business continued for nearly 20 years until the Stuesloff family sold the market in 1929.7

In 1941, the building was extensively remodeled to house Sally’s, a very modern women’s clothing and shoe store. Reporters noted the “unusual” lighting – new “tube lights” which reproduced sunlight effects any time of day or night.8 Modern consumers might recognized these as florescent lights.

3 “The First Break,” Weekly Oregon Statesman, January 11, 1889, p. 5. 4 “The Eldridge Block,” Oregon Statesman, February 22, 1890, p. 4. 5 Ben Maxwell, “Eldriedge Block Soon to Become a Parking Area,” Capitol Journal, November 29, 1954. 6 “Steusloff Will Build,” Capital Journal, June 21, 1902, p. 3 and “Steusloff Bros., Butchers and Packers,” January 1, 1907, p. 22. 7 “Stuesloff Family Sell Market after 20 Years Operation,” Capital Journal, July 27, 1929, p. 1. 8 “Best Store of Its Kind, Sally’s Ideal,” Capital Journal, March 20, 1941, p. 25.

The north half of the Eldriedge Block c1900. (Salem Public Library, Special Collections, HRE39)

The Steusloff Building in 1907. (Daily Oregon Statesman, January 1, 1907)


Alley 2:

Alley Two, Option A: Wexford Alley- Named for Wexford Theater which used to be located at 467 Court St NE.

Judge P. H. D’Arcy, a prominent Salem developer, built the Wexford Theater in 1910. It was described as one of the most advanced theaters on the West Coast and particular attention was paid to the ventilation, which had been “so perfected as to keep the house cool on the warmest days and have fresh air continually.”9 However Salemites were only able to enjoy the theater for a few short years as the theater burned in 1915.10

D’Arcy replaced the Wexford with a new building called the New Wexford Building in 1916, though instead of a theater, the Geer-Krueger Furniture company became the building’s new tenant.11

9 “New Picture House Opens this evening,” Daily Oregon Statesman, May 25, 1910, p. 4. 10 “Theater Burns,” Oregon Statesman, December 8, 1915, p. 6. 11 “Will Take New Building,” Oregon Statesman, April 28, 1916, p. 5.

The Wexford Theater in 1911. (“The Wexford is Drawing Card,” Oregon Statesman, January 1, 1911, p. 27)


Ally Two, Option B: Golden Pheasant Alley- Named for the Salem restaurant located at 248 Liberty St. from 1936-1996

The Golden Pheasant might be one of Salem’s most beloved and missed restaurants. Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Randall opened the restaurant in 1936 to a glowing reception.12 The Randalls’ sold the Pheasant to the Nopp family in 1951, who continued to run the Pheasant over several generations and a notable forty-five more years.13 In 1996, the Pheasant closed permanently.14

12 “Fine New Restaurant Opens for Business on North Liberty St,” Capital Journal, November 6, 1936, p. 8. 13 “More than 500,000 customers in 25 years,” Capitol Journal, October 12, 1951, p. 9. 14 Christina Lima, “The former Nopp’s restaurant… ,” Statesman Journal, July 15, 1996, p. 14.

This Golden Pheasant postcard shows the restaurant’s large sign as it appeared

around 1965. (Photo by GAN 74404-B, Printed by

Dexter Press, Inc., c1965)

Excerpts from the Capital Journal reporting on the grand opening of the new Golden

Pheasant. “The Golden Pheasant,” Capital Journal, November 6, 1936, p. 8.


Alley 3:

Alley Three, Option A: Fortune’s Corner/Fortune’s Alley-Named for the two bank buildings in this block and a store which was called Fortune's Corner.

This block has been home to many banking businesses in Salem. The U. S. National Bank opened in 1909 and was the first building made of steel in Salem.15 The Capital National Bank, just one storefront north of the U. S. National Bank, was organized in 1885, and a new building façade was constructed in 1892.16 The new façade, built in the Richardsonian-Romanesque style, is one of the most recognizable buildings in Salem.

Early advertisements for the United States National Bank referred to the area as “Fortune’s Corner” in 1908.17

15 “First Modern Steel Building Will Be Erected in Salem,” Capital Journal, May 6, 1909, p. 1. 16 “The Capital National,” Oregon Statesman, November 24, 1885, p. 3 and “The massive three-story stone and marble front of the Capital National…,” September 23, 1892, p. 7. 17 “Fortune’s Corner Sto NE,” Oregon Statesman, May 13, 1908, p. 3.

Left: The United States National Bank building architectural drawing presented in 1909. (“$100,000 Fire-Proof Steel Block Being Erected in this City as a Bank and Office Building, Capital Journal, July 24, 1909, p. 5)

Right: Capital National Bank, c1960, University of Oregon Digital Library, pna_2150, accessed https://www.oregondigital.org/sets/building-or/oregondigital:df67rw800.


Alley Three, Option B: David McCully Alley – Named for David McCully who built one of the first brick buildings in Salem on this block in 1859.

David McCully constructed the building located at 125 Commercial St NE in 1859.18 It was the seventh brick store in Salem at the time and is seen in one of the first photographs ever taken in Salem in 1861. Though the southern two buildings of the Moores’ Block – which McCully’s building eventually became a part of – were demolished to build the U. S. National Bank, McCully’s section of the building remains, though was significantly remodeled in 1976.19 Photos below: Top: Alert Hook & Ladder Fire Company of Salem, Oregon, 1861 (Ben Maxwell Photo Collection, Salem Public Library, 462) Middle left: Photo taken in 1864. “Will Excite Memory of Old Pioneers,” Oregon Statesman, January 1, 1911, p. 27. Middle right: Parade for the Marion County (Oregon) Health Demonstration Project, 1927, Oregon State Archives, via Salem History Photos, Salem Public Library, OMV0006 Bottom: Capital National Bank (Salem, Oregon), photographer Marion Ross, c1980, Oregon Digital Library, pna_09814

18 “More. – Mr. McCully has commenced…,” Oregon Statesman, May 3, 1859, p. 2. 19 “Oldest building now a ‘hole’ in the wall,” Statesman Journal, May 1, 1976, p. 20.

1861

1864

1927

c1980


Alley 4:

Alley 4, Option A: Eckerlen Alley- Eckerlen built two buildings on either side of the alley.

E. Eckerlen built two buildings on this block – one on either side of the alley. The first was The Elite Hotel on the west side of the block facing Commercial Street. Originally built in 1889, he added onto the building sometime before 1906, and again sometime before the 1930s. The building was torn down in the 1960s.20

20 “25 Years Ago Today, extracts from The Daily Oregon Statesman of Jan. 16, 1889,” Oregon Statesman, January 14, 1914, p. 4; “E. Eckerlin’s New Block,” Oregon Statesman, January 1, 1890, p. 5; “The Elite Hotel,” January 2, 1906, p. 20; “Capitol’s Opening Parade in Salem, Oregon, 1938,” photographer Ben Maxwell, 1938, Ben Maxwell Collection, Salem Public Library, Photo ID 4271.

1890 1938

1906


Eckerlen built his second building on this block in 1910 at 145 Liberty St NE. One of the first tenants was the Public Library, which had lost their previous home while waiting on the construction of their new permanent building at State and Winter Streets. In 1936, Bishop’s Men’s Clothing Store moved into the building. “The Eckerlen Building in Salem, Oregon, 1967,” Statesman Journal Photo Collection, Salem Online Photo Collection, Salem Public Library, SJ553.

Alley 4, Option B: Durbin's Alley-Durbin Brothers Livery was located at 120 Commercial St.

The Durbin Brothers had a wooden building at the corner of State and Commercial Streets by the early 1860s. The wooden structure burned in 1867, and the brothers built a new, brick livery near the same spot that year. The building is still there, though heavily remodeled.

Left: Photo taken by Wiley Kenyon in 1862, Salem’s first permanent photographer. The horses are hitched to a sled in front of Durbin’s Livery after a heavy know on January 20, 1862.21

Right: Photo taken by Cronise Photography, c1886. The red circle shows the livery the brothers built in 1867.22

21 “Wiley Kenyon…,” Capital Journal, February 3, 1947, p. 3. 22 “Commercial & State Streets in Salem Oregon, 1880's,” photo by Ben Maxwell, Ben Maxwell Collection, Salem Public Library, 12013.


Below: This photo shows the livery after its 1946 remodel.23

Ally 4, Option C: Statesman Alley: The first Statesman building was located at 162 Commercial St.

The Statesman Journal was located here from around 1870 until 1918. After the Statesman moved, Peerless Bakery occupied the building for more than fifty years until a fire razed the structure in 1967.24

23 “The Salem Hardware Co.,” Oregon Statesman, November 29, 1946, p. 5.;“Corner of Commercial and State Streets in Salem, Oregon,” Statesman Journal Photo, Salem History Online Photo Collection, c1950, Salem Public Library, SJ188. 24 “The Peerless Bakery,” Oregon Statesman, October 18, 1917, p. 5; “The Oregon Statesman,” Oregon Statesman, March 28, 1951, p. 27; “They end what fire started,” Capital Journal, October 25, 1967, p. 9.


Ally 4, Option D: Spirited Alley: A reference to gaming and recreation type businesses on this alley during the historic period.

There are reports of various bars, game rooms, and tobacco shops on this street. “Spirited” is a reflection of these businesses and activities which used to (and in some cases, still do) thrive near this alley.

o “Dad” Geier opened a billiard and pool room above the Salem Hardware Store (120 Commercial St NE) in 1908. It was apparently kept in so fine a manner that you could invite “your friends these long winter evenings and your lady friends on Wednesday afternoons.” 25

o In 1914, J. C. McElroy opened “The Club” at 120 Commercial St NE. McElvoy emphasized the benefits that bowling and billiards brought to your health, even citing that there were “statistics to prove that bowlers neve have appendicitis.”26

o George Waters had a tobacco shop on Commercial Street for several decades, even once offering a profit-sharing opportunity for his customers – “Make your tobacco habit earn you something.”27

Alley 5:

25 “A Gentleman’s Resort,” Capital Journal, December 17, 1908; 26 “’The Club’ is soon to open,’ Oregon Statesman, February 1, 1914, p. 8. 27 “Make your tobacco habit earn you something,” Oregon Statesman, July 2, 1905, p. 7; “The Pacific cigar factory is closed…,” Capital Journal, July 29, 1891, p. 3.


Alley 5, Option A: Fashion Alley- Named for “Fashion Stables” that were first located at High and Court St. and then State and High St.28

In 1890, Jasper Minto and W. S. Lowe opened the “Fashion Stables” at the corner of Court and High Streets.29 However, construction of the Odd Fellows Hall started in 1900 and the Fashion Stables moved down the road.30

In 1910, the stable closed permanently to make way for the Great Western Auto Garage, opening “a new era for Salem.” 31

Alley 5, Option B: Bligh Alley- Named for the Bligh Hotel and Theatre on this block.

T. G. Bligh opened the Bligh Block, with a theater and hotel, in 1911. Despite having one of the first automatic call systems for fire in Salem, the Bligh Block burned in 1975.32

Photo: “Bligh Block & McGilchrist Building on N side of State Street between Liberty & High streets, Salem, Oregon,” photographer McEwan, Salem Chamber of Commerce Collection, Salem Public Library, scc251.

28 Source of photo of the stable is unclear – the compiler requested information regarding the photo and will update this report if more information becomes available. The photo was probably taken about 1905 as the I.O.O.F. Hall was constructed in 1900. The Masonic Lodge, not yet constructed in this photo, was built in 1912. 29 “The Fashion Stables,” Weekly Oregon Statesman, January 3, 1890, p. 4. 30 “The Corner Stone,” Capital Journal, June 14, 1900, p. 4; 31 “Auto garage replaces the Fashion Stables,” Oregon Statesman, May 1, 1910, p. 5; “New Garage will open era for Salem,” Oregon Statesman, May 15, 1910, p. 2. 32 “Call system proves admirable success,” Oregon Statesman, June 21, 1911, p. 2; Andy Zimmerman, “Time Capsule: Bligh Block remembered for deadly fire,” Statesman Journal, June 13, 2015, accessed June 3, 2019, https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/life/2015/06/14/time-capsule-bligh-block-remembered-deadly-fire/71109448/.


Alley 6:

Alley 6, Option A: Patton’s Alley- Named for the Patton’s Block which was subsumed by the Ladd and Bush Bank.

T. F. Patton built the Patton Block in 1869. In the 1880s, the building was home to shops where you could buy everything from medicine, guns, and musical instruments to dental services. (See photos).

On the same block as Ladd and Bush Bank, which was also built in 1869, the Patton Block was incorporated into the façade of the bank in 1967.

Left: “Ladd and Bush Bank in Sale, Oregon, 1880,” Ben Maxwell Photo Collection, Salem Public Library, 108. Right: “Patton Block on the south side of State Street between Commercial and Liberty, Salem, Oregon, ca1886, Ben Maxwell Photo Collection, Salem Public Library, 12109.

1880

c1886


Left: “Ladd & Bush Salem Branch, United States National Bank of Oregon (Salem, Oregon),” University of Oregon Design Library, Photo by Marion Dean Ross, 1959, University of Oregon, Oregon Digital Library, pna_09918. Right: “The Ladd and Bush Bank after rebuilding and enlargement in Salem, Oregon, 1967,” Statesman Journal Photo, Salem Public Library Online Photo Collection, SJ919.

Alley 6, Option B: Spa Alley-Named for a longtime Salem restaurant that was located in the last remaining section of the Tioga block from 1891-1948

The Spa, “Salem’s principal dispensatory of toothsome delicacies,” served Salemites candies, treats, and eats from its State Street location for nearly sixty years.33 Walter T. Stolz established the business in 1891 and it was a popular eatery until it sold in 1948. Charles McNary, U.S. Senator and vice-

presidential candidate, even worked there in his youth.34

Notable for its large sign – which grew larger over the years – the building was demolished in 1965. Photographer John Ericksen captured some of the beauty in the demolished rubble, publishing a series of photos in the Oregon Statesman.35

33 “The Sweet Shop,” Oregon Statesman, January 1, 1910, p. 21. 34 “Frank Meyers Sell the ‘Spa’ After 45 Years of Operation,” Capital Journal, June 30, 1944, p. 3. 35 “Art Collector,” Oregon Statesman, June 15, 1965, p. 14.

c1960 1967

Left: “The Spa, c1920,” Thomas Cronise Photograph, Oregon State Library, West Collection, Salem, Oregon. Right: Selection from “Southwest corner of State Street in Salem, Oregon, 1939,” Ben Maxwell Collection, Salem Public Library, 1421.

c1920

1939


Excerpts from the Oregon Statesman showing photographer John Ericksen documenting the demolition of “The Spa.”36

Alley 7:

36 “Pop Art uncovered in Salem,” Oregon Statesman, June 15, 1965, p. 14 and 15.


Alley 7, Option A: George Lai Sun Alley-Named for the contributions that George Sun made as Mayor of Salem’s Chinatown that was once located on this block.

George Lai Sun was the unofficial Mayor of Salem’s Downtown Chinatown. Salem once had a vibrant Chinatown, full of medicine shops, dry good stores, food markets, and gambling and opium houses.

Initially invited to help build the region’s roads, levees, dams, and railroads, worsening economic times brought scrutiny to the immigration of Chinese residents and the federal Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 made life harder for those already here.

In Salem, the City Council condemned Chinatown in 1903. Though it was never officially burned, as directed in the Ordinance, developers began pushing out Chinese residents with high rent. By the 1930s, not many were left.37

In 1922, Hal D. Patton invited George Lai Sun, among many others, to speak at his fiftieth anniversary. These are Sun’s words about his time in Salem:

o “I like Salem because all people treat me nicely. Then my children all grow up. They can vote but I have been here so long, for fifty-four years next June, I ought to be citizen. I ought to be voting too. I see some country-man come over to this country; he stay not very long, three or four years; he can vote. Why I be here fifty-four years altogether, why I cannot vote. I ought to be citizen too. They must make mistake’ something wrong.”38

Left: George Lai Sun (center), pictured here with two of his children, Maxine and Hem, came to Salem in 1868. - Norma O’Kelley Collection, Oregon Historical Society, bb013438.

George Sun and Dr. Kum, pictured in 1886. – Oregon State Library Photo.

37 “Chinatown Condemned,” Oregon Statesman, January 21, 1903, p. 3; “Hen Foo is Emphatic in denial,” Capital Journal, March 30, 1911, p. 1. 38 Speech by George Sun, Hal D. Patton’s Fiftieth Anniversary, 1922, Marion County Historical Society.


Alley 8:

Peppermint Flats Alley- Named for the mint that used to grow in this part of town during the historic period. This is a verified historic name for this area.

Peppermint Flats is a reference to the area of town which used to be located along the bank of an old river channel that formed a ravine-like area. In 1939, long-time Salemite and attorney Carey F. Martin described the ravine as located generally along Trade Street, “through the block on which Crystal Gardens dance hall [was] located and on northeasterly under the Salem Hotel and the Oregon building to somewhere about the corner of the present courthouse.”39

Martin was reporting on an old story that a steamboat once used this ravine to dock at the County Courthouse during the 1861 flood, a story which, according to his research, was true.

Peppermint Flats was infamous for its association with the old hanging yard and questionable businesses in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Both Martin and local historian Ben Maxwell reported that the area was a target of the “moral crusades” of Governor Oswald West in the 1910s.40

39 Carey F. Martin, “Rains came; Steamer Landed at Courthouse,” Oregon Statesman, December 17, 1939, p. 5. The Crystal Garden was located at the southeast corner of Liberty and Ferry Streets SE. See Andy Zimmerman, “Crystal Garden,” Statesman Journal, August 23, 2014, accessed June 4, 2019, https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/heritage/2014/08/24/crystal-garden-salems-dance-hall-decades/14428503/; 40 Ibid., and Ben Maxwell, “Old Armory in Service Since 1912,” Capital Journal, July 30, 1962, p. 6.

8

General area of “Peppermint Flats,” according to Carey F. Martin

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