1910 Court Street and "Piety Hill"

This 1910 photograph is included to illustrate the changes in the historic Piety Hill residential neighborhood since it was then seen from the State House dome, a popular place for Salem aerial photography. This view of Court Street gives a good view of more than two blocks of homes:
At Summer Street in the foreground at right, the Cooke-Pattons shared a city block (between Winter and Summer Streets) with the Thomas Kay family.
At Winter Street were the Krause family, then the Bishops (Fannie Kay Bishop) and the Max Burens. Two other houses are obscured by trees.
At Cottage Street there is an empty lot and then, just visible, the McNary house. The Eugene Breyman house, just beyond at the corner is not seen. However, the old City Hall rises in the left margin of the picture. Notice the barren hills of what would be West Salem.
Looking up Winter Street, are the homes of Joseph Albert, George Pearce, Thomas Rigdon.
The numerous church spires illustrate why the neighborhood got its name.
The Unitarian Church (center), St. Joseph's Catholic Church's Sacred Heart Academy and St. Paul's Episcopal Church have all moved to new locations.
The Court Street houses would be demolished by 1963.
The one structure still remaining is Garfield School, the white building in the upper right margin.

1928 First Presbyterian Church

This 1942 Hugh Stryker photograph shows the First Presbyterian Church structure in its original 1928 location on the northeast corner of Winter and Chemeketa Street. The Oregon State Labor and Industries Building is now in that site.
The manse is behind the tree to the right of the church. It is now at the northeast corner of Court and 18th streets in the Court-Chemeketa Historic Residential District, as seen below.

By 1944 the church membership was planning to move the church diagonally across the intersection (to face Winter Street on the southwest corner) because of the new North Capitol Mall construction.
Beginning in 1946, and continuing to the 1957-8 move, several historic residential properties on Winter Street were acquired and demolished. Several are seen in the photograph below, taken in 1937 when the Oregon State Library was built.

From the left are the homes of Frank Derby (formerly owned by Joseph H. Albert, built by O. E. Krausse in 1885);George Pearce, built in 1892 and W. T Rigdon, built in 1890.
In the winter of 1957-8, the church was placed on rollers and moved to the former site of these residentces. In the aerial photograph below, the church has advanced into the intersection.

By 1963, the C. P. Bishop home, (formerly owned by George Rose , built by Judge J. J. Murphy before 1886)


and the 1907 Max Buren residence on Court Street (damaged in the 1962 wind storm as seen below) were also acquired and demolished for an educational annex to the church.