Rearranging History: Salem's Hollywood District

8/8/2016

[Photo courtesy of Mark Anderson]

August 4, 2016 Episode.

The Hollywood District of northeast Salem was a self-contained community supported by neighborhood businesses. It developed around the intersections of Fairgrounds Road, Portland Road, Tile Road, Hazel Avenue and otherl local streets meeting in a spoke fashion. It was very heavily used as it was the northern entrance into Salem from Highway 99E.

The photo at the upper left is a view of the Capitol Street/Fairgrounds Road NE area of Salem, known as the Hollywood District, looking north, c1940. The lower photo is a more contemporary photo, taken a few years following the completion of Salem's first Urban Renewal Project which began in 1971.

This area is now within the boundaries of the Highland Neighborhood (one of Salem's 18 officially recognized neighborhood organizations), whose boundaries are loosely Madison Street to the south, Salem Parkway to the north, the Willamette River to the west and the UP/BN Railroad tracks to the east.

Minthorn House at 2210 Hazel St NE, Salem c1898. [Salem Public Library}

Herbert S. Hoover (left), August 1955, Hoover Day [SPL}

The Highland Addition was originally developed in the late 1800s by Dr. Henry J. Minthorn, a country doctor and school superintendent from Newberg, and his partners. Assisting him in his real estate endeavors was his teen-aged nephew/ward, Herbert Hoover. Young Mr. Hoover would later leave Salem to join the first freshman class at Stanford University in California, eventually becoming the 31st US President in 1920. He is the only President to have lived in the state of Oregon. Mr. Hoover returned to the Salem area in August 1955 when the city of Newberg celebrated Hoover Day, commemorating the former President's early years in the Willamette Valley.

The Hollywood District had become blighted by the late 1960s. In 1970, Salem leaders took on the task of redesigning the dangerous intersections and improving the economic viability of this area by creating an Urban Renewal district of approximately 18.6 acres. The City Council/Urban Renewal Agency purchased the majority of the land, about 45 lots, and cleared off the substandard and obsolete structures, replatting the area into six new lots. Portions of Capitol Street NE and Tile Road NE were vacated and realigned to enhance traffic circulation and safety. Federal housing funds were secured for this large project.

The Hollywood Theater was an anchor of the neighborhood and providing entertainment for all ages. Many of the folks we interviewed told us about attending the Saturday Kids Club at the theater as children. There would be entertainment, movies and weekly serials (mostly Westerns) for all to enjoy. Many came to watch this building being demolished in 1971.

In this photo (right) taken in 1966, the traffic congestion at the hub of the spoked intersection of Capitol Street and Fairgrounds Road was obvious. Five streets converged in a one-block area, creating a dangerous situation for vehicles and pedestrians. The businesses in the large block in the center of the photo included Mootry's Pharmacy, Hollywood Theater, Mione's Super-Creamed Ice Cream Confectionary, Elite Dry Cleaners, and Hollywood Palacene Confectionary, On the left were the Aston Apartments, Casper & Cutler Heating, Tindall's Pharmacy, Bradley's Furniture Mart, Glenn's Red & White Grocery & Market, and many neighborhood cafes.

Capitol Street & Fairgrounds Road NE, 1966 {SPL]

Capitol Street NE and Liberty Street NE, 1971 [SPL]

The photo above, lower right, was taken in 1971 following the demolition of most of the structures and realignment of Fairgrounds Road into Liberty Street NE. The remaining structure is Mootry's Pharmacy which was later relocated further south on Capitol Street. The new Salem Clinic and the first Salem Senior Center, opening to the public in 1976, were then constructed on the vacant lot. Center 50+ replaced the Senior Center in a new location on Broadway Street NE, part of a later urban renewal endeavor, and its original building became part of the Salem Clinic complex we see today.

Here are a few more photographs of historic resources in the Highland-Hollywood area. The church and the school still stand and operate in the neighborhood. One of two linen mills in northeast Salem, Salem Linen Mill on Tile Road was converted to the Oregon Military Department. and now is the site of the local Walgreen's Drug Store.