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

1923 The Cooley House

This property at 888 Summer Street (the southeast corner of Summer and D Street) was acquired by Ralph and Beryl Cooley in 1922 in two separate deeds from F.A. Legg for $10.00 and from the City of Salem for $1,950. Ralph Cooley was employed by the Bishop's Clothing Store in Salem for over 50 years; in 1960 when he served as manager of the store, he was honored for half a century of employment. The Cooleys sold the house to the State of Oregon in 1967 due to the state's planned construction of the Oregon State Archives adjacent to that site.
The house, as photographed below, is now located at 1320 Chemeketa Street in the NEN neighborhood and is designated as a Local Landmark.

1928 The Charles Cole House

This Norman Farmhouse styled home was originally located at 715 Summer Street. Its original owner is not known, but from 1932 to 1942 it was the home of Charles A. and Bessie Cole. Mr. Cole was the Chief of Plant Industry for the Oregon State Department of Forestry. A later owner was Robert L. Shinn who lived there with his wife Lenora. Mr. Shinn was the Secretary/Manager of the Willamette Cherry Growers.

The house was one of several purchased by the State of Oregon in anticipation of extending the North Capitol Mall. It was being used as office space by the state in 1981 and sold to a private party in 1988. In 1993 it was owned by Stephen Teeter and Judy Wilson and was possibly a rental property.

It is now located at 925 Hood Street in the Grant Neighborhood and is designated a Local Landmark.