December 17, 2016 Episode.
The west-facing State Capitol building was destroyed by fire in 1935; only a few sections of exterior masonry walls remained. Many state agencies were also housed here and a majority of their archival records were lost. The need to replace the seat of Oregon's government, along with the need to house the expanding government services the populace now demanded, ushered in an era of ongoing redevelopment and expansion of what would be known as the Capitol Mall. In order to impact fewer existing institutional and commercial buildings, it was decided to reorient the Capitol to the north, a decision fraught with impact for the area to the north known as Piety Hill--home to many of the affluent and powerful.
The west-facing State Capitol building was destroyed by fire in 1935; only a few sections of exterior masonry walls remained. Many state agencies were also housed here and a majority of their archival records were lost. The need to replace the seat of Oregon's government, along with the need to house the expanding government services the populace now demanded, ushered in an era of ongoing redevelopment and expansion of what would be known as the Capitol Mall. In order to impact fewer existing institutional and commercial buildings, it was decided to reorient the Capitol to the north, a decision fraught with impact for the area to the north known as Piety Hill--home to many of the affluent and powerful.
Piety Hill, as photographed in 1910. Many of the homes in Piety Hill were demolished in the 1935-40 development of the new Capitol Mall, while some were saved and relocated. As expansion continued, this area was again impacted about every 20 years: the 1950s, the 1970s, the 1990s, and the early 2000s. Ten houses were relocated; 34 residences were demolished. In an attempt to master his world, man invents and improves, forcing progress forward. But the price society pays for this progress is too often exacted by ripping ragged holes in the fabric of its shared history.
In an earlier posting, Rearranging History, Part 1 (11/22/2015) we included photos of many residences that were relocated. Today we'll highlight some of those that were demolished. Building of the Oregon State Library and the Sunken Garden (1937-38) caused 3 houses to be relocated and 6 demolished.
 Henry Meyers House |  W.I. Staley House |  Cooke Patton House |
 Gov. Z. Moody/Thomas Kay House |  Oregon State Library, Sunken Garden & Public Services Building, 1938 |
For the Public Services Building (1938-48), 5 were demolished:
 Spaulding House |  A.N. Bush House |  Estelle Bush Thayer House |
 AN Bush & Dr. Robertson Houses |  Spaulding & Miles Houses |
For the Transportation Building (1943-52), 3 houses were relocated and at least 4 removed.
 McNary-McLeod House |  Transportation Building complete 1952 |  Barnes House |
By 1962, expansion of the North Capitol Mall for the Labor & Industries Building (1958-61) would further decimate the area. Some of those lost treasures are included below.
 Pearce House & "auto" house |  Murphy/Bishop House |  Rigdon House |  Fleming House |
 Moving the First Presbyterian Church |  Making room for the Labor & Industries Building on the Capitol Mall. |
We are indebted to Virginia Green and her son T.N. Green, Jr., for their dedication in photographically documenting Salem's history in their five blogs, especially "Salem's Moving History," and for allowing us access to their research which preserves the stories of our Lost Treasures for future generations.
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