West Salem is a neighborhood in

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, located in the far northwest part of the city. West Salem is the only part of the city that is located in

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

. The neighborhood is separated from the rest of Salem by 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 serves as West Salem's southeast border. The business districts of West Salem are located on Edgewater Street and Wallace Road. , the portion of Salem within Polk County had a population of 24,183.

History

In 1889 a

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...

for West Salem was filed, and the city incorporated in 1913. In 1949, the city was officially merged with Salem. West Salem post office was established in 1938 and ran until 1952. The former West Salem City Hall (now housing private offices) 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 ...

in 1990.National Register of Historic Places
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Education

West Salem is served by 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 West Salem High School, Walker Middle School, Straub Middle School, Brush College, Myers, Harritt, Chapman Hill, and Kalapuya elementary schools. Straub Middle School and Kalapuya Elementary School opened in the fall of 2011, and were funded by the Salem-Keizer School District construction bond.

Transportation

The neighborhood is connected to the rest of Salem by the

Marion Street Bridge The Marion Street Bridge is an automobile bridge located in Salem, Oregon, United States. It spans the Willamette River to connect Salem and West Salem, and acts as a conduit for Oregon Route 22. The bridge carries vehicular traffic one way west ...

and

Center Street Bridge The Center Street Bridge is an automobile bridge located in Salem, Oregon, United States. It spans the Willamette River, connecting West Salem and Oregon Route 22 to Salem. It carries vehicle traffic eastbound from Route 22 and directly from Wall ...

that carry

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

over the

. The

Union Street Railroad Bridge The Union Street Railroad Bridge is a vertical lift bridge, vertical lift, Pratt through truss bridge that spans the Willamette River in Salem, Oregon, Salem, Oregon, United States, built in 1912–13. It was last used by trains in the early 1990s ...

also crosses the Willamette, but carries pedestrians and bicycles instead of trains. Oregon 22 and

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 ...

(Wallace Road) are the two state highways in West Salem.

References

External links

West Salem history from Salem Public LibrarySalem NeighborhoodsMap
Neighborhoods in Salem, Oregon Former cities in Oregon 1889 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1889 1949 disestablishments in Oregon 1913 establishments in Oregon Populated places on the Willamette River {{PolkCountyOR-geo-stub