Change of Address

This view of Pringle Plaza was taken at the southeast corner of Ferry and Liberty streets. Once an area of canneries, Salem urban redevelopment has transformed it into a beautifully landscaped site for a parking garage, shops, restaurants and a theater.
Like other cities, many of our earlier industries have disappeared. In Salem, the capital of Oregon, our first state government offices have also been demolished. The main element of a local residential transformation has been the development of the North Capitol Mall , reaching from Court Street, in front of the capitol building, to D Street, over a half mile to the north. Homes of many city's most prominent pioneer citizens fell to the bulldozer as the character of the neighborhood changed from homes to office buildings along this corridor two blocks wide.
However, a few structures were put on rollers or trucks and moved to new locations. These relocations were practical exercises in finding new uses for historic structures that were still valuable. These are the stories of Salem's Moving History.

NOTE: In many cases, we do not know the exact year a structure was moved so we offer the date it was built. If a residential move was occasioned by construction within the North Capital Mall, as the majority of these are, we give the approximate date of the move and name the state building that replaced the original structure on that site. We welcome additional information by Comments of viewers.

The two charts below show the original locations of these relocated structures (names in red). Click on images to enlarge.

Below, 1937-1961 Piety Hill transformation with demolition or removal of residences, replaced with 4 state government office buildings as numbered.

Our second chart shows the 1980s-2003 expansion of North Capital Mall, north of Union Street, and state constructions:

Oregon State Archives ~ green

North Mall Office Building ~ blue rectangle

North Mall Heritage Park ~ black circle

Salem's First Residence

Was Salem's first residence a condominium? This structure, known as the Jason Lee House, was built in 1841 as apartments for four missionary families ~ with a kitchen used in common. Far from being cramped in the small apartment space, these families who had already endured many hardships in their former settlement must have been gratified to have these new relatively comfortable quarters.
Jason Lee's second wife, the former Lucy Thompson, gave birth to a daughter here in 1842. Like his first wife, Anna Maria Pittman, the birth cost the mother her life. Shortly afterward, Jason Lee returned to New York to gain support for his contested leadership of the mission. He died before he could return to Oregon.
Other early missionary residents of the house were the Parrish family, the Raymonds and the Judsons. After the Methodist church closed the mission, private ownership of this house included that of Judge Reuben Boise.
The drawing seen above was published in 1858. Note one door downstairs is missing and there are probably other creative, artistic details. It is our earliest representation of the original appearance.
A more complete history of the house is found in the following post.

1841 The Jason Lee House

The first house built in Salem was constructed in the summer of 1841 by Jason Lee, the leader of the Methodist Mission, and other missionaries. The new settlement was on a waterway named Mill Creek where a small saw mill fashioned lumber from the surrounding forest.
The house was designed for several missionary families. Jason Lee lived there with his second wife Lucy, who died in 1842 a few weeks after giving birth to their daughter, Lucy Anna Maria. He left Oregon shortly afterward, to defend his leadership after being replaced by another minister. He died in his native Canada in 1845 and the mission establishment was closed four years later. However, the church-owned properties were distributed among the missionary settlers and the village grew. The Lee House is said to have housed planning for the 1850s Provisional Government and the actions of the first judiciary, first post office, and second store in the Salem area.
Among the families who lived there in the late 1800s was that of Judge Reuben Boise (1819-1907) who arrived in Oregon in 1850. He was appointed to the Territorial Supreme Court in 1857 and served on the State Supreme Court intermittently until 1880.
The picture above was taken in the 1930s when the house was still occupied and by that time designated as 960 Broadway, just north of the creek. Over the years, the house had many alterations and was hardly recognizable.
The house was in danger of demolition when local historical preservationists, led by Oregon State Archivist, David Duniway, made arrangements to have the house moved. It was temporarily placed on Front Street and then permanently settled on the Mission Mill Museum property (now Willamette Heritage Center) where it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Restored to its original configuration, it appears today as seen in the photograph below.

1841 Methodist Parsonage

This is a 1903 photograph of the 1841 Methodist Parsonage, the second building constructed in Salem. The Jason Lee residence preceded it by just a few months in the same year. The earliest families to occupy the building were those of Reverend Gustavus Hines and Reverend David Leslie who shared it with visiting teachers and circuit riders. It became the official boarding house of the Willamette Station.

The Parsonage was built originally where the water tower stands on 12th Street, north of Mission Mill Museum (now Willamette Heritage Center). This location was convenient to the Institute that was the center of early Methodist educational efforts, now Willamette University. The Parsonage may have served as the Indian Manual Labor School while the Institute was being built.

By the 1920s, the Parsonage had been moved to 1325 Ferry Street, a couple of blocks from its original location. In 1966, to preserve this historic building, which had remained relatively unchanged, the Parsonage was temporarily relocated back to its original site on the grounds of the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill. By 1974, in its present location, the Parsonage was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Like the Jason Lee House, it is part of the historical exhibits at the Willamette Heritage Center where it appears as seen in the photograph below.

1847 The John D. Boon House

The John D. Boon house, center above, is likely the oldest single family dwelling in Salem. This photograph, taken about 1940, shows it as it was originally located on Liberty Street.
The building on the left housed the Boon Stone, built in 1860, which became the First State Treasury, and in later years was known as Karr's Tavern. Since the late 1970s it has been known as Boon's Treasury and is a popular local restaurant and hosts popular musical entertainment.
The small house to the right, the home of John D. Boon and his wife Martha Hawkins, was built in 1847. Mr. Boon was elected Treasurer by the Oregon Territorial Legislature in 1851, and when Oregon became a state in 1859, he became the first Oregon State Treasurer, serving until 1862. The house was moved to the Mission Mill Museum complex (now Willamette Heritage Center) in 1973 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The wooden porch and four columns are gone, as is the roof over the porch.
The two-story building in the foreground was used as a furniture factory.
The photograph below shows the house as it appears today.

1849 The David Leslie House

The fourth house in Salem, seen above in a drawing, was built by the Rev. David Leslie. He lived here with his second wife, Adelia Judson Ollie, and two daughters of this marriage, Sarah and Emma. Both girls died before the age of 8.

When the Methodist mission was discontinued in 1849, Leslie had been assigned the claim lying between what is now Mission and McGilchrist streets and between the east edge of Bush Pasture Park and Willamette Slough. Here he built this home and planted an orchard with numerous varieties of apples and pears. In 1860, Leslie sold 100 acres of his property to Asahel Bush II, and Bush House now stands on the site of the Leslie's home. The Bush family lived in this house, moved down the hill to Mission Street before theirs was built in 1877-78. In 1863, while the family lived in the former Leslie home, 30 year old Eugenia Zieber Bush, wife of Asahel, died. She left four children under seven years of age to be raised by their father who did not remarry.

The 1900 photograph below, taken from the porch of Bush House, may give a glimpse of the Leslie House after its move. It would be the house to the right in photograph, approximately at the present intersection of Mission and Cottage Streets. It may have been moved from this location after the Oregon School for the Blind was established on that property.

The next location of the residence was probably a block west to the present northwest intersection of Mission and Church Streets. It may have remained there until the 1950s, but no picture is available.

1854 William and Chloe Willson's home

By 1854 William and Chloe Willson were settled in this home, pictured here in 1858, at the northeast corner of Capitol and Court Street. The Willsons were pioneers of the Methodist mission and founders of both Willamette University and the town that became Salem.

In 1881, when Chloe was a widow, Willamette University President Thomas Van Scoy purchased the "English Cottage" and moved it to the campus as the Woman's College.


Over the years it was enlarged, heightened, given a Mansard roof and, finally, a tower. The picture above, used by the courtesy of Willamette University Archives and Special Collections, shows the alterations made in the former home.

In 1919 it was demolished for the construction of the present Lausanne Hall. The Chronicles of Willamette states, "The original of unit of this outworn old building...was the beautiful old Willson mansion but the numerous additions to it had long before made it into an architectural monstrosity and there was general rejoicing when it could be blotted out of the landscape."
The name Lausanne, given to this university building, recalls the ship that brought missionaries to the Oregon settlement in 1843: Chloe was one of these. She became one of the first teachers at the school that is now Willamette University.


After the Willson house was moved to the Willamette campus, H. B. Theilsen and his wife Jennie purchased the property on Court Street where the Willson house had stood. They built a home where they lived with their three children. In about 1925 the house was demolished, although the family continued to own the land. A Shell Service Station was constructed and automobile facilities have continued to occupy the property since that time.