Salem (Oregon)

Salem (Oregon), city in northwestern Oregon, on the Willamette River. The city is the capital of the state, seat of Marion County, and in part of Polk County. Salem is the administrative center of the state and a commercial, distribution, and processing hub for the fertile mid-Willamette Valley. Air transportation is through McNary Field.

Salem is the site of Willamette University, founded as the Oregon Institute in 1842 and the oldest institution of higher education in the West. Also located in the city are Corban College (1935) and a community college. Local attractions include the State Capitol, completed in the late 1930s, and Bush Pasture, a park containing the Bush House Museum and the Bush Barn Art Center, named for early Oregon banker and newspaper publisher Asahel Bush. Other points of interest are the Marion County Historical Society Museum, the Gilbert House Children’s Museum, and several wineries. Mission Mill Village includes restored historic buildings and the Thomas Kay Textile Museum. Silver Falls State Park and Champoeg State Park are nearby. Annual events include the Oregon State Fair, held in early September, and the Salem Art Fair, in August.

Salem was established in 1840 by Methodist missionary Jason Lee, who had migrated west over the Oregon Trail. It became the capital of the Oregon Territory in 1851 and continued as the capital when Oregon became a state in 1859, despite the city’s early slow growth. Salem incorporated as a city in 1860. The name of the city is the anglicized form of the Hebrew word shalom (peace). It probably was chosen because the local Calapooya people had called the site Chemeketa, which means “place of rest.”

Salem covers a land area of 118 sq km (46 sq mi), with a mean elevation of 47 m (154 ft). According to the 2000 census, whites are 83.1 percent of the population, Asians 2.4 percent, Native Americans 1.5 percent, blacks 1.3 percent, and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders 0.5 percent. The remainder are of mixed heritage or not did report race. Hispanics, who may be of any race, are 14.6 percent of the people. Population 89,233 (1980); 107,786 (1990); 136,924 (2000); 152,239 (2006).