Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Marion County. It is located in the center of the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...

alongside the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and

Polk Polk may refer to: People * James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States * Polk (name), other people with the name Places *Polk (CTA), a train station in Chicago, Illinois * Polk, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Polk, Missouri ...

counties, and the city neighborhood of West Salem is in Polk County. Salem was founded in 1842, became the capital of the

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Ori ...

in 1851, and was incorporated in 1857. Salem had a population of 174,365 in 2019, making it the third-largest city in the state after

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

and Eugene. Salem is the principal city of the

Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area The Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is a Metropolitan Statistical Area consisting of two counties in western Oregon, Marion and Polk. The principal city is Salem, the state capital, which h ...

, a

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

that covers Marion and Polk counties and had a combined population of 390,738 at the 2010 census. A 2019 estimate placed the metropolitan population at 400,408, the state's second largest. This area is, in turn, part of the Portland-Vancouver-Salem

Combined Statistical Area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...

. The city is home to

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

Corban University Corban University is a private Christian university in Salem, Oregon. There are about 1,200 full-time students enrolled on the Salem campus and 2,800 worldwide. Athletically, it is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athlet ...

, and

Chemeketa Community College Chemeketa Community College is a public community college in Salem, Oregon, with a campus in McMinnville, and education centers in Dallas, Brooks, and Woodburn. In addition, the college has a Center for Business and Industry in downtown Salem ...

. The

State of Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

is the largest public employer in the city, and

Salem Health Salem Hospital is a non-profit, regional medical center located in Salem, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1896, the hospital has 454 beds. A Level II trauma center, the community hospital is the largest private employer in Salem and the only ho ...

is the largest private employer. Transportation includes public transit from

Cherriots Cherriots, officially the Salem Area Mass Transit District, is a public transit operator based in Salem, Oregon, United States. The agency, whose name refers to the city's nickname (The Cherry City), provides bus and paratransit service in Salem ...

(legally known as Salem Area Mass Transit District), Amtrak service, and non-commercial air travel at

McNary Field McNary Field (Salem Municipal Airport) is in Marion County, Oregon, United States, two miles southeast of downtown Salem, which owns it. The airport is named for U.S. Senator Charles L. McNary. McNary Field has had scheduled airline flights, i ...

. Major roads include

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Califor ...

Oregon Route 99E Oregon Route 99E is an Oregon state highway that runs between Junction City, Oregon and an interchange with I-5 just south of the Oregon/Washington border, in Portland. It, along with OR 99W, makes up a split of OR 99 in the northern part of th ...

, and

Oregon Route 22 Oregon Route 22 is an Oregon state highway that runs between the Oregon Coast community of Hebo, to an interchange with U.S. Route 20 near Santiam Pass in the Cascade Mountains. OR 22 traverses several highways of the Oregon state highway ...

, which connects West Salem across the Willamette River via the Marion Street and Center Street bridges.

History

Origin of name

The Native Americans who inhabited the central Willamette Valley at first European contact, the

Kalapuya The Kalapuya are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American ethnic group, people, which had eight independent groups speaking three mutually intelligible dialects. The Kalapuya tribes' traditional homelands were the Willamette Va ...

, called the area Chim-i-ki-ti, which means "meeting or resting place" in the

Central Kalapuya language Central Kalapuyan was a Kalapuyan language indigenous to the central and southern Willamette Valley in Oregon in the United States. It was spoken by various bands of the Kalapuya peoples who inhabited the valley up through the middle of the 19t ...

(Santiam). When the

Methodist Mission The Methodist Mission was the Methodist Episcopal Church's 19th-century conversion efforts in the Pacific Northwest. Local Indigenous cultures were introduced to western culture and Christianity. Superintendent Jason Lee was the principal leader fo ...

moved to the area, they called the new establishment Chemeketa; although it was more widely known as the Mill, because of its situation on Mill Creek. When the

Oregon Institute The Oregon Institute was an American school located in the Willamette Valley of the Oregon Country during the 19th century. Begun in 1842, it was the first school built for European Americans west of Missouri. Founded by members of the Methodist M ...

was established, the community became known as the institute. When the institute was dissolved, the trustees decided to lay out a town site on the Institute lands. Some possible sources for the name "Salem" include

William H. Willson William Holden Willson (April 14, 1805 – April 17, 1856) was a pioneer of the U.S. state of Oregon and the founder of its capital city, Salem. A native of New Hampshire, he immigrated to the Oregon Country in 1837 to work at the Methodist ...

, who in 1850 and 1851 filed the plans for the main part of the city, and suggested adopting an Anglicized version of the

Biblical Hebrew Biblical Hebrew (, or , ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite branch of Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Israel, roughly west of ...

word "שָׁלוֹם, Shalom", meaning "peace" (as well as "hello" and "goodbye"). The Reverend David Leslie, President of the town's Trustees, also wanted a Biblical name, and suggested using the last five letters of "Jerusalem". Or, the town may be named after

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

, where Leslie was educated. There were many names suggested, and even after the change to Salem, some people, such as

Asahel Bush Asahel Bush (June 4, 1824 – December 23, 1913) was an American newspaper publisher and businessman in Salem, Oregon. As publisher of the ''Oregon Statesman'' newspaper, he moved the paper to Salem when the territorial capital moved to that city. ...

(editor of the ''Oregon Statesman''), believed the name should be changed back to Chemeketa. The Vern Miller Civic Center, which houses the city offices and library, has a public space dedicated as the ''Peace Plaza'' in recognition of the names by which the city has been known.

Europeans

The first people of European descent arrived in the area as early as 1812; they were animal trappers and food gatherers for the fur trading companies in

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corne ...

. The first permanent American settlement in the area was the

Jason Lee Jason Lee may refer to: Entertainment *Jason Lee (actor) (born 1970), American film and TV actor and former professional skateboarder *Jason Scott Lee (born 1966), Asian American film actor * Jaxon Lee (Jason Christopher Lee, born 1968), American v ...

Methodist mission (1840) located in the area north of Salem known as Wheatland. In 1842, the missionaries established the

(the forerunner of

) in the area that was to become the site of Salem. In 1844, the mission was dissolved and the town site established. In 1851, Salem became the territorial capital after it was moved from Oregon City. The capital was moved briefly to Corvallis in 1855, but was moved back to Salem permanently that same year. Salem incorporated as a city in 1857, and with the coming of statehood in 1859, it became the state capital.

Capitol buildings

Oregon has had three capitol buildings in Salem. A two-story state house, which had been occupied for only two months, burned to the ground in December 1855. Oregon's second capitol building was completed in 1876 on the site of the original. The Revival-style building was based in part on the

U.S. Capitol building The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill at ...

. The building received its distinctive copper dome in 1893. On April 25, 1935, this building was also destroyed by fire. The third and current

Oregon State Capitol The Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the state legislature and the offices of the governor, secretary of state, and treasurer of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in the state capitol, Salem. Constructed from 1936 to 1938 ...

was completed on the same site in 1938. It is recognizable by its distinctive pioneer statue atop the capitol dome that is plated with gold-leaf and officially named the '' Oregon Pioneer''.

State fair and cherry festival

Agriculture has always been important to Salem, and the city has historically recognized and celebrated it in a number of ways. In 1861, Salem was chosen as the permanent site of the

Oregon State Fair The Oregon State Fair is the official state fair of the U.S. state of Oregon. It takes place every August–September at the Oregon State Fairgrounds located in north Salem, the state capital, as it has almost every year since 1862. In 2006, res ...

by the Oregon State Agricultural Association.Heine, Steven Rober
M1 ''The Oregon State Fair Images of America''
Arcadia Publishing August 20, 2007 Salem is nicknamed the "Cherry City", because of the past importance of the local

cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

-growing industry. The first cherry festival in Salem was held in 1903 and was an annual event, with parades and the election of a cherry queen, until sometime after World War I. The event was briefly revived as the Salem Cherryland Festival for several years in the late 1940s.

Geography and climate

Salem is located in the north-central

, in

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mario ...

and

counties. The 45th Parallel (roughly the halfway point between the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

and the

Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

) passes through Salem's city limits. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Although the

flows through Salem, the

North Santiam River The North Santiam River is a tributary of the Santiam River in western Oregon in the United States. It drains of the Cascade Range on the eastern side of the Willamette Valley east of Salem. It rises in the high Cascades in eastern Linn count ...

watershed is Salem's primary drinking water source. Other important streams that pass through Salem are Mill Creek, the Mill Race, Pringle Creek, and Shelton Ditch. Smaller streams in the southern and southeastern parts of the city include Clark Creek, Jory Creek, Battle Creek, Croisan Creek, and Claggett Creek, while Glen Creek and Brush Creek flow through West Salem. Elevation within the city limits ranges from about . Salem contains the volcanic Salem Hills in the south and is sandwiched by the Eola Hills directly to the west and the

Waldo Hills The Waldo Hills are a range of hills in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, United States. Encompassing an area of around , the hills are located east of Salem.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. The ...

to the east. Northern and eastern Salem are less hilly. South and West Salem contain some canyons and are the hilliest areas. The coast range and the Cascades—including

Mount Hood Mount Hood is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It was formed by a subduction zone on the Pacific coast and rests in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located about east-southeast of Portlan ...

, Mount Jefferson, and on the clearest of days,

Mount St. Helens Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the indigenous Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United St ...

and Mount Adams in Washington—can be viewed from throughout the city. Like most of the Willamette Valley area, Salem has a

mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Csb''). Rain is heaviest in late fall and throughout winter, and almost all of the annual precipitation falls between October and April, with a dry season from May through September. Light snowfall occurs in winter, but major snows are rare. Mostly cloudy skies and low cloud ceilings are commonplace during the rainy season. Salem's mean annual temperature is ; its annual precipitation is , with an average of snow included. However, over a quarter of years receive no snowfall. The state capital is about south of

, but actually has a lower average temperature than that of Portland (), due in part to the lower daily minima. All-time extremes in Salem range from to . The coldest afternoon of the year usually falls to on the freezing point, whereas the coldest recorded maximum temperature was in three separate months and years. The warmest night on record was in July 2006 and the warmest annual night averages .

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 154,637 people, 57,290 households, and 36,261 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 61,276 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 79.0%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 1.5%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 1.5% Native American, 2.7%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.9%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 10.1% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 4.3% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 20.3% of the population. There were 57,290 households, of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.0% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.7% were non-families. 28.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.15. The median age in the city was 34.5 years. 25.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.6% were from 25 to 44; 24.5% were from 45 to 64; and 12% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.9% male and 50.1% female.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 136,924 people, 50,676 households, and 32,331 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,994.0 people per square mile (1,156.1/km²). There were 53,817 housing units at an average density of 1,176.8 per square mile (454.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.1% White, 1.3% African American, 1.5% Native American, 2.4% Asian, 0.5% Pacific Islander, 7.9% from other races, and 3.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.6% of the population.

Non-Hispanic Whites Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Amer ...

were 70.7% of the population in 2010, compared to 88.6% in 1990. There were 50,676 households, out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.7% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.10. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.4% under the age of 18, 11.4% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $38,881, and the median income for a family was $46,409. Males had a median income of $34,746 versus $26,789 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,141. About 10.5% of families and 15.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.2% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Salem City Hall Courtyard, Salem, Oregon

Salem is governed using the

council–manager government The council–manager government is a form of local government used for municipalities, counties, or other equivalent regions. It is one of the two most common forms of local government in the United States along with the mayor–council govern ...

model. The city council consists of eight members who are elected from single member wards. The mayor is elected in a citywide vote. The current mayor is

Chuck Bennett Charles Henry Bennett (August 9, 1907 – June 9, 1973) was an American football player and coach. He played halfback for the Indiana University football team from 1926 to 1928 and won the 1928 Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most ...

, a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

first elected in 2016. The following are Salem's city councilors: * Ward 1: Virginia Stapleton * Ward 2: Tom Anderson * Ward 3: Trevor Phillips * Ward 4: Jackie Leung * Ward 5: Jose Gonzalez * Ward 6: Chris Hoy * Ward 7: Vanessa Nordyke * Ward 8: Jim Lewis

Economy

Old First National Bank Building Salem Oregon

State government is Salem's largest employer, but the city also serves as a hub for the area farming communities and is a major agricultural food processing center. It lies along the

I-5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

corridor and is within an hour's drive of Oregon's largest city, Portland. Salem is the home of Kettle Foods, Inc., a maker of potato chips since 1982. Kettle employs 700 in Salem and at a plant in

Bowthorpe Bowthorpe is a suburban village to the west of Norwich, in the county of Norfolk, England. Geography Bowthorpe is primarily a residential area, but includes a large industrial estate (Bowthorpe Industrial Estate; occupied by mix-use commercia ...

, England. NORPAC Foods, Inc., is a large food processor in Salem and elsewhere in Marion County. Its brands include Flav-R-Pac and West-Pac frozen fruits and vegetables, and Santiam canned vegetables. Oregon Fruit Products, Inc., has been canning

blackberries The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family (biology), family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus' ...

, marionberries and other fruits in Salem since 1935, with ''Oregon'' as its brand name. In a bid to diversify its economic base, Salem attracted a number of computer-related manufacturing plants in the 1990s. In November 2003, the Sumitomo Mitsubishi Silicon Group (SUMCO), one of these arrivals, announced it would be closing its two

silicon Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic tab ...

wafer A wafer is a crisp, often sweet, very thin, flat, light and dry biscuit, often used to decorate ice cream, and also used as a garnish on some sweet dishes. Wafers can also be made into cookies with cream flavoring sandwiched between them. They ...

plants at the end of 2004, eliminating 620 jobs, and moving production to other plants. Salem is the headquarters of the

Oregon Department of Corrections The Oregon Department of Corrections is the agency of the U.S. state of Oregon charged with managing a system of 12 state prisons since its creation by the state legislature in 1987. In addition to having custody of offenders sentenced to prison ...

and home to four state correctional facilities, including the

Oregon State Penitentiary Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP), sometimes called Oregon State Prison, is a supermax, maximum security prison in the Northwestern United States, northwest United States in Salem, Oregon, Salem, Oregon. Originally opened in Portland, Oregon, Portl ...

, Oregon's only maximum-security prison. Numerous projects are underway to increase the supply of

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether it ...

in the downtown core. These projects will provide upscale, low- and high-rise

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

and office space.

Top employers

According to Salem's 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the area are:

People and culture

Neighborhood associations

Salem has 18 recognized neighborhood associations, which are independent groups that receive administrative support from the city.

Cultural events and series

Teen male skater in Salem Oregon park jump

From May through October the

Salem Saturday Market Salem Community Markets (SCM), formerly known as Salem Saturday Market (SSM), is a nonprofit organization which operates multiple farmers' markets and related events in Salem, Oregon. season, there are four main markets: the Monday Hospital M ...

, located north of the Capitol, exhibits an emphasis on local products including crafts, baked goods, produce, meat, and other items. In addition to the Saturday Market, there is a Wednesday Farmers' Market hosted downtown in Courthouse Square during the summer, as well a Holiday Gift Market in December. The 60+ year old, indoor Saturday Public Market is open all year. The annual World Beat Festival, held in June, is sponsored by the nonprofit Salem Multicultural Institute. The event lasts for two days and is held at the Riverfront Park. It features international crafts, music, dance, food, and folklore from every continent, and in recent years has held a

Dragon Boat A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft originating from the Pearl River Delta region of China's southern Guangdong Province. These were made of teak, but in other parts of China, different kinds of wood are used. It is one of a family of t ...

race similar to the ones held during the nearby Rose Festival in

. The Salem Art Association sponsors the annual Salem Art Fair and Festival, which takes place at

Bush's Pasture Park Bush's Pasture Park (90.5 acres) is a public park and botanical garden in Salem, Oregon, United States. It is the site of the Asahel Bush House, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, and is now operated as the Bush ...

during the summer. Its displays, interactive exhibits, food, and performances attract thousands of visitors each year. The Bite of Salem, held in July at the Riverfront Park, is an event similar to others such as the Bite of Oregon in Portland. The event consists of a weekend of local restaurants in Salem offering samples of their menus to patrons in a festival atmosphere, with live entertainment and benefiting local charities. In the summer, ''Chef's Nite Out'' is a wine and food benefit held for Marion-Polk Food Share. Oregon Wine & Food Festival takes place at that state's fairgrounds in January. The largest event in Salem is the Oregon State Fair at the end of August through Labor Day. Located in the Oregon State Fairgrounds in North Salem, the fair offers exhibits, competitions and carnival rides. Other events such as concerts, horse shows and rodeos take place at the Oregon State Fair and Expo Center throughout the year. The Mid-Valley Video Festival offers local, national and international independent films in theaters throughout the city. The Salem Film Festival has included feature films that were Oregon premieres. The Salem Repertory Theatre presents shows at the Reed Opera House. The Pentacle Theatre, which features plays and musicals, is located in West Salem. The

Elsinore Theatre The Elsinore Theatre is 1,290-seattheatre located in Salem, Oregon, United States, that first opened on May 28, 1926. Early years Owner George Guthrie enlisted the firm of Lawrence and Holford to design the theatre in a Tudor Gothic style mean ...

is a historic landmark featuring recitals, concerts, films, and plays. It has the largest working pipe organ on the west coast, a remnant of its days as a showcase for silent films, in the early days of cinema. Grand Theater is newly renovated and is the home of Enlightened Theatrics, a professional theatre company and hosts the Salem Progressive Film Series on the third Tuesday nine months of the year. Capitol Pride (Salem's yearly Gay Pride Event), hosted by Aundrea Smith (Author of: "Your Local Queer"; 2019) is held in early August. The personal house and garden of landscape architects Elizabeth Lord and

Edith Schryver Edith Eleanor Schryver (1901–1984) was a founding partner of Lord & Schryver, the first female owned and operated landscape architecture firm in the Pacific Northwest from 1929-1969. Early years Edith Schryver was born on March 20, 1901 in King ...

, known as

Gaiety Hollow Gaiety or Gayety may refer to: * Gaiety (mood), the state of being happy * Gaiety Theatre (disambiguation) * ''USS Gayety (AM-239'', former name of the ship ''BRP Magat Salamat (PS-20)'' See also *Gaiety Girls Gaiety Girls were the chorus girl ...

, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Their firm

Lord & Schryver Lord & Schryver was the first landscape architecture firm run by women in the Pacific Northwest. It was founded by Elizabeth Blodget Lord and Edith Schryver. It was headquartered in Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of ...

designed the gardens of

Historic Deepwood Estate Deepwood Museum & Gardens, formerly known as Historic Deepwood Estate, or simply Deepwood, is a historic house in Salem, Oregon, United States. The home was built by Dr. Luke A. Port, with construction beginning in 1893, and completed in 1894. ...

Museums and other points of interest

In addition to the Oregon State Capitol and adjacent Willson Park, Salem's downtown contains the

Willamette Heritage Center Willamette Heritage Center is a museum in Salem, Oregon. The five-acre site features several structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places including the Thomas Kay woolen mill, the Jason Lee House, Methodist Parsonage, John D. Bo ...

Hallie Ford Museum of Art The Hallie Ford Museum of Art (HFMA) is the museum of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, United States. It is the third largest art museum in Oregon. Opened in 1998, the facility is across the street from the Oregon State Capital in downtow ...

, the

, Riverfront Park, the Willamette River, some of the oldest buildings in Oregon, as well as shopping and restaurants. The A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village interactive children's museum and Prewitt-Allen Archaeological Museum are both also located in Salem. The two leading candidates for the tallest building in Salem are

Salem First United Methodist Church Salem First United Methodist Church is a Methodism, Methodist congregation and historic church in Salem, Oregon, Salem, Oregon, United States. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places under its original name, First Meth ...

and the Capitol Center. A private survey commissioned by a local publication holds that the church is the tallest. The tall white spire of the 1878 church rises at the intersection of Church and State Streets across from the Capitol grounds. The Capitol Center (originally the First National Bank Building, then the Livesley Building) was built in 1927 by former Salem mayor

Thomas A. Livesley Thomas A. Livesley (December 8, 1863 – July 22, 1947) was an American businessman and politician in the state of Oregon. A successful Hops, hop farmer and broker, Livesley was known as the "Hop King" of Oregon.Mahonia Hall, it was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

(NRHP) in 1990. The

Oregon Symphony The Oregon Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded as the 'Portland Symphony Society' in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States. I ...

, based in Portland, presents approximately ten classical and pops concerts each year in Salem. The

Salem Chamber Orchestra Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

includes professional area musicians as well as students. The

Salem Armory Auditorium The Salem Armory Auditorium or Salem Armory (opened in the 1960's.) is a multipurpose arena located in Salem, Oregon, United States. It is home to the Salem Capitals of TBL Part of the troff suite of Unix document layout tools, tbl is a pr ...

has hosted touring bands including Korn and Phish. The Salem Concert Band is a community band made up of professional and amateur musicians that performs several classical and pops concerts annually. Because Salem is the state capital, it has a multitude of government agencies, departments, and boards housed in buildings with architectural designs ranging from the early 20th century to examples of state-of-the-art civil building design. The historic Reed Opera House in downtown Salem has a number of local shops and dining establishments, as well as an art gallery. Salem has been awarded "Tree City USA" status by the National Arbor Day Foundation for 30 consecutive years for its dedication to

urban forestry Urban forestry is the care and management of single trees and tree populations in Urban area, urban settings for the purpose of improving the urban environment. Urban forestry involves both planning and management, including the programming o ...

. Salem was the first city in Oregon to receive the award. In keeping with the city's "Cherry City" theme, flowering cherry trees have been planted along many Salem streets as well as on the Capitol Mall across from the Capitol. The Salem Public Library's main branch is located just south of downtown. A branch library is located in West Salem (Polk County). The Library participates in the Chemeketa Cooperative Regional Library Service, so Salem Public Library cards are also valid in the member libraries in Yamhill,

, and parts of Linn County. In addition to the Salem Public Library, the Mark O. Hatfield Library at Willamette University is open to the public as well, although the hours are limited. The film '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' was filmed at the

Oregon State Hospital Oregon State Hospital is a public psychiatric hospital in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the state's capital city of Salem with a smaller satellite campus in Junction City opened in 2014. Founded in 1862 and constructed in the Kirkbride ...

. Salem and its environs have a multitude of wineries and vineyards that are open to the public.

Media

Salem has one daily newspaper, the

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Statesman Journal The ''Statesman Journal'' is the major daily newspaper published in Salem, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1851 as the ''Oregon Statesman'', it later merged with the ''Capital Journal'' to form the current newspaper, the second-oldest in Orego ...

''. The ''

Capital Press ''The Capital Press'' is a weekly agricultural newspaper covering the West Coast of the United States, and published in Salem, Oregon. The newspaper covers farming, ranching and agriculture industries in the Pacific Northwest. The newspaper is ow ...

'', a weekly agricultural newspaper, is published in the city and is distributed throughout the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

. The monthly ''Salem Business Journal'' covers business and government. ''Salem Magazine'', published quarterly, both in physical and digital (online) issues, focuses upon its people; its unique culture; and its downtown and surrounding neighborhood communities. Northwest Television operates three television stations that have Salem transmitters:

KWVT-LD KWVT-LD, VHF digital channel 11, is a low-powered YTA TV- affiliated television station serving Portland, Oregon, United States that is licensed to Salem. Its transmitter is located in West Portland. Operated by Northwest Television, LLC, th ...

, KSLM, and KPWC, which serve an area from

Longview, Washington Longview is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is the principal city of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. Longview's population was 37,818 at the time of the 2 ...

, to

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

. Two stations are licensed to Salem but operate out of Portland:

KPXG-TV KPXG-TV (channel 22) is a television station licensed to Salem, Oregon, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Portland area. Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E.W. Scripps Company, the station has off ...

and KRCW. As of 2012, seven radio stations broadcast from Salem, including three commercial AM stations, three non-commercial FM stations, and a community radio station.

KBZY KBZY (1490 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station city of license, licensed to serve Salem, Oregon, United States. The station, established in 1957, has been owned by Louis Risewick since 2020 and broadcasts an oldies format. History This stati ...

was a popular

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

station from its sign-on in 1957 through the 1960s and 1970s. Today KBZY has an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

format, and continues to use live and local personalities. KBZY is affiliated with the

ABC Radio Network Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which w ...

. KYKN carries syndicated conservative talk hosts.

KZGD KZGD (1390 AM broadcasting, AM) is an American radio station city of license, licensed to serve Salem, Oregon, United States. The station, founded in 1934 as KSLM, is currently owned by Iglesia Pentecostal Vispera del Fin. KZGD broadcasts a Reg ...

is a Spanish language

sports talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

station. KSLM features conservative talk programming. KSAI is a non-commercial station licensed to

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest ...

with a

Contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

format. KMUZ, established in 2012, is a non-commercial

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popular ...

station carrying locally produced content in a variety format. Salem is part of the Portland

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

survey area for radio stations, and most of the Portland stations can be received in Salem, including powerful AM stations

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

KEX,

CBS Sports Radio CBS Sports Radio is a sports radio network that debuted with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013. CBS Sports Radio is owned by Paramount Global and distributed by Westwood One. Programmin ...

affiliate

KXTG KXTG (750 AM, "The Game") is a sports radio station in Portland, Oregon. Its transmitter is located in Damascus, while studios are in downtown Portland. It is owned by Alpha Media, a company owned by veteran radio executive Larry Wilson. Progra ...

, and

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent company ...

affiliate

KPOJ KPOJ (620 AM) is a radio station serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon and neighboring Washington. It airs a sports format, and is affiliated with Fox Sports Radio. Its transmitter is located in Sunnyside, Oregon, ...

. Stations to the south in Corvallis and Albany are also easily heard in Salem.

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

programming is carried by

Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington. OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF tra ...

, which can be heard on

KOPB-FM KOPB-FM (91.5 FM) is a radio station licensed to Portland, Oregon, United States. The station is owned by Oregon Public Broadcasting and airs its news and talk programming, consisting of syndicated programming from NPR, APM and PRX, as well a ...

from Portland, and KOAC from Corvallis.

Parks and recreation

City parks

Salem's Public Works Department, Parks Operations Division, is responsible for a park system encompassing with of trails, 46 parks, and another 55 open and undeveloped areas. Minto-Brown Island Park is the largest at .

, a urban park a few blocks south of downtown Salem, features natural groves of native

Oregon White Oak ''Quercus garryana'' is an oak tree species of the Pacific Northwest, with a range stretching from southern California to southwestern British Columbia. It is commonly known as the Oregon white oak or Oregon oak or, in Canada, the Garry oak. It ...

trees, the historic Bush House, a rose garden, and adjacent Deepwood Estates. Other city parks include Cascade Gateway Park and Riverfront Park, which is adjacent to downtown and the Willamette River and is home to the Salem

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

. Marion Square Park is downtown next to Marion Street Bridge and has a

skatepark A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, q ...

and basketball court. The skatepark also allows bicycles. Marion Square Park was laid out by city founder

, and is the next oldest municipal park in Salem after Willson Park at the Oregon State Capitol. Across the Willamette River in West Salem is the

Wallace Marine Park Wallace may refer to: People * Clan Wallace in Scotland * Wallace (given name) * Wallace (surname) * Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back * Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name ...

, which includes a boat ramp and floating boat dock allowing easy access to the river for water sports. The NRHP-listed Union Street Railroad Bridge, repurposed as a bicycle and pedestrian bridge, connects Wallace Marine Park and West Salem to Riverfront Park and downtown Salem. Salem is also home to one of the smallest city parks in the world,

Waldo Park Waldo Park is a municipal park, located in downtown Salem, Oregon, United States. It is one of the smallest city parks in the world, measuring . The park consists of a giant sequoia (one of the biggest tree species in the world) surrounded by land ...

, which consists of a single Sequoia tree. The

capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

grounds, which are maintained by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, cover three city blocks and include Willson and Capitol parks.

Recreation

Other large parks located in the Salem area include the Willamette Mission State Park north of the city, and Silver Falls State Park east of Salem. Both of these parks have extensive hiking, biking, and horse trails. Salem's central location provides access to a wide variety of recreational activities in a variety of climates and geographies year round. The Coast Range and the Pacific Ocean are to the west. The Santiam Canyon area, the

Western Cascades The Western Cascades is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon between the Willamette Valley and the High Cascades. Deposits of Western Cascades age are also found in adjacent southwest Washington state. The range contains many extinct shield vol ...

and the High Cascades are to the east. Portland and its environs are to the north, while Eugene and its environs are to the south. Salem also has two disc golf courses. A nine-hole course located in the woods of Woodmansee Park (located behind Judson Middle School), and a more open style 18-hole course located throughout Cascade Gateway Park. They are both free and open to the public.

Sports

Education

Elementary and secondary

Salem's public elementary and secondary schools are part of the

Salem-Keizer School District Salem-Keizer School District (24J) is a school district in the U.S. state of Oregon that serves the cities of Salem and Keizer. It is the second-largest school district in the state with approximately 40,000 students and nearly 4,000 full-time e ...

, which includes almost all of the city limits. The Salem-Keizer district has approximately 39,000 students and is the second largest public school district in the state. A small section of Salem in Marion County is assigned to Cascade School District 5. The city also has many private elementary and secondary schools such as Blanchet Catholic School and Salem Academy Christian. One school, Willamette Academy, is part of an outreach program run by Willamette University that is designed to expose under-represented students to the rewards of an academic life at an early age (7th–12th grade). Salem is also home to several public

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

s, the

Chemawa Indian School Chemawa Indian School is a Native American boarding school in Salem, Oregon, United States. Named after the Chemawa band of the Kalapuya people of the Willamette Valley, it opened on February 25, 1880 as an elementary school. Grades were adde ...

Bureau of Indian Education The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), headquartered in the Main Interior Building in Washington, D.C., and formerly known as the Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP), is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Assistant S ...

(BIE)-affiliated Native American high school), and the Oregon School for the Deaf. Oregon School for the Blind was formerly in the city and closed in 2009.

Colleges and universities

Post secondary schools include

, Tokyo International University of America, and

, the oldest university in the American west.Gatke, Robert Moulton. 1943. ''Chronicles of Willamette, the pioneer university of the West''. Portland, Or: Binfords & Mort.

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

Eastern Oregon University Eastern Oregon University (EOU) (officially designated as Oregon’s Rural University) is a public university in La Grande, Oregon. It was formerly part of the Oregon University System, since dissolved. EOU was founded in 1929 as a teacher’ ...

Western Oregon University Western Oregon University (WOU) is a public university in Monmouth, Oregon. It was originally established in 1856 by Disciples of Christ pioneers as Monmouth University. Subsequent names included Oregon State Normal School, Oregon College of E ...

and

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

provide classes and a handful of undergraduate degrees at Chemeketa Community College. All of Marion County and all of Polk County are within the Chemeketa community college district.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Cherriots Gillig and Blue Bird buses in old and new paint schemes at Downtown TC in 2018

, an independent government agency, provides fixed-route bus service, rideshare matching, and paratransit/lift services for the disabled, within the

urban growth boundary An urban growth boundary, or UGB, is a regional boundary, set in an attempt to control urban sprawl by, in its simplest form, mandating that the area inside the boundary be used for urban development and the area outside be preserved in its natural ...

. They also operate Cherriots Regional, previously known as Chemeketa Area Regional Transportation System (CARTS), which provides bus service that connects Salem to destinations as far north as Wilsonville, as far west as

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, and to the east to Silverton and up the Santiam Canyon to Mill City. Cherriots, in cooperation with Wilsonville's

SMART Smart or SMART may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014 * Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com * ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper * ''SMart'', a children's television ser ...

, provides routes between downtown Salem and Wilsonville. From Wilsonville,

WES Commuter Rail The Westside Express Service (WES) is a commuter rail line serving part of the Portland metropolitan area's Washington County and a small portion of Clackamas County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned by TriMet and operated by Portland & West ...

connects to

TriMet TriMet, formally known as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, is a public agency that operates mass transit in a region that spans most of the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Created in 1969 ...

routes in Beaverton, including

MAX Light Rail The Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) is a light rail system serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned and operated by TriMet, it consists of five color-designated lines that altogether connect the six sections ...

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and pac ...

provides north–south service and connecting carrier service to

Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, with a population of 99,178 at the time of the 2020 U.S ...

, from the Salem Amtrak station.

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

, the national passenger rail system, leases the Salem Depot from the

Oregon Department of Transportation The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is a department of the state government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for systems of transportation. It was first established in 1969. It had been preceded by the Oregon State Highway Depar ...

. The ''

Coast Starlight The ''Coast Starlight'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, which has operated continuously since Amtrak's formati ...

'' provides daily north–south service to cities between Los Angeles, California and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington. ''

Amtrak Cascades The Amtrak ''Cascades'' is a passenger train corridor in the Pacific Northwest, operated by Amtrak in partnership with the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. It is named after the Cascade mountain range that the route parallels. The corr ...

'' trains, operating as far north as

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and as far south as

, serve Salem several times daily in both directions. HUT Airport Shuttle provides transportation to

Portland International Airport Portland International Airport is a joint civil–military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of the state's passenger air travel and more than 95% of its air cargo. It is within Portland's city li ...

. HUT also serves Corvallis with a second stop at

, Albany, and Woodburn. Mountain Express provides transportation between Salem and Bend.

(Salem Municipal Airport) is owned and operated by the City of Salem. It serves primarily

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

and the

Oregon National Guard The Oregon Military Department is an agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon, which oversees the armed forces of the state of Oregon. Under the authority and direction of the governor as commander-in-chief, the agency is responsib ...

– Army Aviation Support Facility (AASF).

Delta Connection Delta Connection is a regional airline brand name for Delta Air Lines, under which a number of individually owned regional airlines primarily operate short- and medium-haul routes. Mainline major air carriers often use regional airlines to ope ...

offered commercial air service with two daily flights to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, Utah, from July 2007. However, citing fuel costs versus a load factor of less than 85 percent, the service was discontinued in October 2008. The city plans to go forward with airport improvements that were announced when service was commenced, including a longer runway and an expanded terminal building. The city is served by the following highways: *

Oregon Route 99E Business Oregon Route 99E Business (OR 99E Business) is a business route through Salem, Oregon for Oregon Route 99E, which bypasses downtown via Interstate 5 (I-5). A portion of this highway was originally planned to be a freeway, signed as Inte ...

is a spur of the above, serving the downtown area *

Oregon Route 221 Oregon Route 221 is an Oregon state highway which runs between the city of Salem, Oregon and the city of Dayton, Oregon, roughly along the western shore of the Willamette River. It is known as the Salem-Dayton Highway No. 150 (see Oregon highway ...

Oregon Route 51 Oregon Route 51 is an Oregon state highway running between Monmouth, Oregon and an intersection with Oregon Route 22 west of Salem. OR 51 traverses several highways of the Oregon state highway system: the Monmouth–Independence Highway N ...

Oregon Route 213 Oregon Route 213 (OR 213) is an Oregon state highway that serves the eastern Willamette Valley between Portland and Salem. It is a north–south route. The route (except for its southernmost segment) is known as the Cascade Highway, thou ...

Healthcare

Salem Hospital Regional Health Services, one of the largest of Oregon's 57 acute care hospitals, is a 454-bed acute care medical facility. It is a not-for-profit organization, and is also the city's largest private employer.

Notable people

* Ryan Allen, football player for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

* George Andrews, mathematician *

Debbie Armstrong Debra Rae "Debbie" Armstrong (born December 6, 1963) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Seattle, Washington. She was the first gold medalist from the U.S. in women's alpine skiing in 12 years, winning the giant slalom at the 1984 Wint ...

, gold medalist in skiing at the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...

* Ryan Bailey, Olympic sprinter *

Cal Barnes Calvin Ross Barnes (born January 14, 1988) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, film producer, novelist, and playwright. Barnes moved to Los Angeles in 2009, where he began his career by starring in short films, appearing in television ...

, actor, director, screenwriter, film producer, novelist, and playwright *

Lute Barnes Luther Owen Barnes (born April 28, 1947, in Forest City, Iowa) is a former professional baseball second baseman and shortstop who played Major League Baseball for the New York Mets from -. Barnes attended North Salem High School then college a ...

, baseball player for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. *

Kat Bjelland Katherine Lynne Bjelland (born December 9, 1963) is an American musician. She rose to prominence as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the alternative rock band Babes in Toyland, which she formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1987. ...

, lead singer of the punk rock band Babes in Toyland * Jerome Brudos, serial killer * Gus Envela Jr., Olympic sprinter * John Fahey, musician, author and founder of Takoma records * Pat Fitzsimons, PGA Tour golfer *

Ron Funches Ronald Kyle Funches (born March 12, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. Born in California, Funches spent his early life in Chicago before relocating to Salem, Oregon, as a teenager. He began his comedy career in Portland, Oregon, at ...

, standup comedian *

Thomas Leigh Gatch Thomas Leigh Gatch (August 9, 1891 – December 16, 1954) was an American naval officer and attorney in the 20th century. A native of Oregon, and grandson of educator Thomas Milton Gatch, he served in the United States Navy as a ship commander d ...

, Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy *

Alfred Carlton Gilbert Alfred Carlton Gilbert (February 15, 1884 – January 24, 1961) was an American inventor, athlete, magician, toy-maker and businessman. Gilbert invented the Erector Set and manufactured American Flyer Trains. Early life and education Gilber ...

, inventor, athlete, toy-maker, and businessman. Known for inventing the Erector Set, and for winning an Olympic gold medal. *

Craig Hanneman Craig Lewis Hanneman (born July 1, 1949 in Salem, Oregon) is a former American football player who played in the National Football League from 1972 to 1975. He played in college for Oregon State University and played for two NFL teams in 52 game ...

, NFL defensive lineman (1972–1975) *

Jon Heder Jonathan Joseph Heder (; born October 26, 1977) is an American actor, best known for his role as the title character of the 2004 comedy film ''Napoleon Dynamite''. He has also appeared in the films '' Just Like Heaven'', ''The Benchwarmers'', ''S ...

, actor, filmmaker, and screenwriter *

Frank Herbert Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel '' Dune'' and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked a ...

, author of

Dune (novel) ''Dune'' is a 1965 epic science fiction novel by American author Frank Herbert, originally published as two separate serials in '' Analog'' magazine. It tied with Roger Zelazny's '' This Immortal'' for the Hugo Award in 1966 and it won the ina ...

series; graduated from North Salem High School and employed by

Statesman Journal The ''Statesman Journal'' is the major daily newspaper published in Salem, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1851 as the ''Oregon Statesman'', it later merged with the ''Capital Journal'' to form the current newspaper, the second-oldest in Orego ...

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

, 31st President of the United States; worked in Salem in the 1880s * Bob Horn, NFL linebacker (1976–1983) *

Justin Kirk Justin Kirk (born May 28, 1969) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Prior Walter in Mike Nichols's screen adaptation of ''Angels in America'', for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting A ...

, actor *

Kelly LeMieux Kelly Thomas LeMieux (born April 7, 1967 in Salem, Oregon, United States) is an American bass player. He is known for being the bassist of the band Goldfinger and his work in the Dave Mustaine project MD.45. He was the touring bass player for L ...

, bass guitarist for Goldfinger *

Jed Lowrie Jed Carlson Lowrie (born April 17, 1984) is an American professional baseball infielder who is currently a free agent. He has previously played in MLB for the Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros, Oakland Athletics and New York Mets. Early life Lowri ...

, Major League Baseball shortstop * Technical Sergeant Donald G. Malarkey, former non-commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army during World War II *

Richard Laurence Marquette Richard Lawrence Marquette (also known as Dick Marquette; born December 12, 1934) is an American serial killer who killed three women, drained their blood, mutilated and dismembered their bodies, and scattered their remains between 1961 and 1975 ...

, serial killer *

Douglas McKay James Douglas McKay (June 24, 1893 – July 22, 1959) was an American businessman and politician from the U.S. state of Oregon. He served in World War I before going into business, where he was most successful as a car dealership owner in Salem ...

, mayor of Salem, State Senator, Governor of Oregon, and U.S. Secretary of the Interior *

Larry Norman Larry David Norman (April 8, 1947 – February 24, 2008) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Christian rock music and released more than 100 album ...

, Christian rock musician * Thelma Payne, diver,

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

bronze medalist *

Ben Petrick Benjamin Wayne Petrick ( ; born April 7, 1977) is a former Major League Baseball player. A native of Oregon, he grew up in Hillsboro, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area. After reaching the Majors, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease ...

, baseball player * Joe Preston, bassist for several metal and rock bands *

Leonard Stone Leonard Stone (born Leonard Steinbock; November 3, 1923 – November 2, 2011) was an American character actor who played supporting roles in over 120 television shows and 35 films. Early years Stone was born in Salem, Oregon. The son of Mr. and ...

, actor * William L. Sullivan, author of outdoor guide books * Bill Swancutt, football player * Stephen Thorsett, professor and astronomer *

Michael Totten Michael James Totten (born September 16, 1970) is an American journalist and author who has reported from the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans, Cuba, Vietnam, and the Caucasus. His work appears in various publications, websites, and on his blog. ...

, journalist and novelist * Zollie Volchok, former general manager of the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

and winner of the 1983 NBA Executive of the Year Award *

Randall Woodfield Randall Brent Woodfield (born December 26, 1950) is an American serial killer, serial rapist, kidnapper, robber, and burglar who was dubbed the I-5 Killer or the I-5 Bandit by the media due to the crimes he committed along the Interstate 5 corr ...

, murderer and suspected serial killer * Dolora Zajick, opera singer * Cory Kendrix, musician *Camryn Sullivan, YouTuber and mental health advocate

Sister cities

Salem has three

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

: *

Salem, Tamil Nadu Salem (), is a major city in Salem district, located on the banks of Thirumanimutharu river in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Salem is the List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, sixth largest urban agglomeration and metropolitan city in ...

, India * Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan *

Gimhae Gimhae () is a city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is the seat of the large Gimhae Kim clan, one of the largest Kim clans in Korea. The Gimhae Kims claim descent from the ancient royal house of Geumgwan Gaya, which was based in Gim ...

South Gyeongsang South Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상남도, translit=Gyeongsangnam-do, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World ...

, South Korea As of 2014, there was talk of reviving the now-stagnant Sister City project launched in 1964 with Salem in

Tamil Nadu, India Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

References

External links

*
Entry for Salem
in the ''

Oregon Blue Book The ''Oregon Blue Book'' is the official directory and fact book for the U.S. state of Oregon prepared by the Oregon Secretary of State and published by the Office of the Secretary's Archives Division. The ''Blue Book'' comes in both print and on ...

''
Salem Online History

Travel Salem

The Salem Chamber of Commerce
* {{Authority control Cities in Oregon Cities in Marion County, Oregon Cities in Polk County, Oregon Salem, Oregon metropolitan area Willamette Valley County seats in Oregon Populated places established in 1842 1842 establishments in Oregon Populated places on the Willamette River

History

Origin of name

Europeans

Capitol buildings

State fair and cherry festival

Geography and climate

Demographics

2010 census

2000 census

Government

Economy

Top employers

People and culture

Neighborhood associations

Cultural events and series

Museums and other points of interest

Media

Parks and recreation

City parks

Recreation

Sports

Education

Elementary and secondary

Colleges and universities

Infrastructure

Transportation

Healthcare

Notable people

Sister cities

References

Further reading

External links