The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980, March 28, 1951, Image 52

The Oregon statesman., March 28, 1951, Page 52, Image 52

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Newspaper Page Textta&; U-rTk. rOT j5 W.spWV, $ol. Oregon 151' First Census Gave County 2709 Total First federal census In Marlon ounty came In 1850 as part ( the seventh national census. Salem had just been fcxrn, the ounty was yoong and the state cf Oregon was not yet delivered. W. H. Rees, proprietor of the township of Butteville, conductd the count in this county. That census gave Marion coun ty a population of 2,709 witn 1.404 houses. 365 farms, six mills, three churches and 13 deaths for 1850. These figures were released by Joseph L. Meek, U. S. mar- shall and his assistants. 20 Mills, 7 Churches ' An unofficial census - compiled In 1855 by the Oregon & Wash ington. Almanac credits Marion county with a' population of 5,417 (3,550 males and 1,867 females). It also listed 20 mills, seven churches. This source reckoned the young town of Salem that year as "one of the most - flourishing towns In the territory." It had several churches and stores, one news paper office and "numerous handsome dwelling ' houses," to hold Its 700 population. ' Oregon ' 1 entered -. statehood in 1859 and the federal census of 1860 gave Marion county a popu lation of 7,088 (48 Indians). The count for the entire state of Ore gon, incidentally, had Jumped from 13,294- (.05 person per square mile) In 1850 to 52,465 (.85 per son per square mile) in 1860. One or the most bitterly con tested censuses ever taken here was the 1865 count authorized by the state. This was a combination population count and tax roll and eo was public record. Any one f the pioneers could , thumb I through it and find how much his neighbor was worth. The count that year listed the amount of individual state and county: taxes paid and whether a person paid a poll and a state military tax. The Marion county census , began with the name of Jesse Adams, 640 acres of land, and ended with Henry J. Zumwalt, 310 acres. The ; 1870 federal census was taken locally by J. Henry Brown, Salem historian. The census was conducted then by voting pre cincts and the Salem precinct reached nearly to Turner. Marion county's population that year was pegged at 9,963. This figure ' was . broken down to in- c'ude 947 native, 192 foreign, 110 white, 13 Indians, 17 Chinese.' No one seems to know the origin nor the significance of the popula tion figures for Indians. One report of the 1870 census vaguely lists "840 for south Sa lem and 784 for north Salem." The count for the state that year was 90,923 or .96 person per square mile. Figures Show Gain Marion county's population In 1880 was listed at 14,576. This included 1,088 for Salem proper and "930 for north Salem and 838 for south Salem." This count listed 22 Indians. Population totals during the regular censuses in Marion coun ty since then show: DATS COUNTY SALEM STATS ISM tJ34 IJUS S17.7M UM i 17,713 ' W lilt SS.7M 1MM 7I,7M ISM 474ST 177t VS3JSS US : Mi- S53.7M 1S4 M.M7 MSS.CM use 1N47 M 1.S1MU Do You Remember--1935? DEEF T errt DEEF On IIOAST 112j(3 DQ1L . . . GTISQ t rf& PRIME 7gn STEAK . . iitpv RID ROLL. CXRLom -rrr-rf VEAL Tn STEAK o . iigvg I ROAST . . E-IAT.lDUUGEn 2fer25 m GA USAGE tOt A Finer Quality f Htit Carnwl Be Sold Thaw Tab - ulderUSC Tamp . . flgg ) Veal Stew , , Oc Lamb' Stew. J5S A . i S f 5 . ... . f U 1 1 :Q .1 . ,i i ' 0 J i The eld Tew Park school near Mluloa sad 13th streets In Salem Is long gone, bat pictures such as this keep its memory alive. This photo reputedly was taken In 1895.: (From Oregon State Archives.) ; 35 Log Cabin First School in Sal em One hundred years ago a hand ful of Salem children attended school in a log cabin at Marion and Commercial streets. The cabin was a prelude to Salem's first regular schoolhouse, built in 1858 after Salem school district 24 was established. By 1866 daily attendance was ISO in the two-room school, called Central- With public school advo cates clamoring for more space, two more schools were built at a total cost of $4,500. They were named for their locations in north and south Salem. Tuition Once Charged Attendance mounted to 327 by 1869. and little Central school was operating with an enrollment of IS colored children. - Students paid a tuition of $4 per term until 1871, when the practice appears to have ended with passage of a three-mill prop erty tax levy. There are records of earlier levies to defray the cost of school buildings. Students were not divided into grades until 1875. Teachers work ed individually with students, who did not have standard texts. A student was graduated In 1890 when he passed the eighth- grade examination. The average age of eighth graders was 16 and of first graders, seven. Enrollment passed 1,000 in 1890, and the new East Salem school at 12th and Center streets was the pride of the district. (Later named Washington, it was used until 1949.) Students at East Salem march ed to the percussions of a big bass drum and were proud of the flag (with 42 stars) which the D -A .Ji had just presented to them. Geography and physiology were taught in addition to the three Rs, while eighth graders also stud ied history and algebra. Singing was added in 1891 to replace "miscellaneous questions. Salem's 22 teachers in1891 made an -average of $47.50 monthly and meted "corporal punishment" to 40 of their students, records show. At . the crack .of the 20th cen tury there were 1,500 - students. Grades "above .the eighth" had been added,' and construction : of old1 Salem high school was very near. Park, Lincoln and Grant schools had been erected. The latter still is used. The core of the grade schools used today Garfield, Rich mond, Highland, McKinley, En glewood dates to the early 1900s. . The '20s saw erection of Leslie and Parrish junior high schools. Salem's present high . school was built in 1937. It houses 1,800 stu dents. Bush was built the fol lowing year. Consolidations, a booming city and a zooming birth rate have kept school authorities busy since World War II. School District Grows Ten suburban school - districts have joined with Salem district 24 since 1947, adding some 1,300 students to the rolls. The merging districts were West Salem, Mid dle Grove, Rickey, Pringle, Lib erty, Swegle, Auburn, Salem Heights, Pleasant Point and Hayesville. Construction of Lincoln (Four Corners) and the new Washington grade schools has spearheaded postwar expansion. They feature multipurpose rooms, quickly con vertible for, recreation, programs or cafeteria use. Each cost $210, 000. Revamping of virtually every schoolhouse in the district is scheduled or already completed in the expansion program now un derway. Voters in 1950 approved some $3,000,000 expenditure dur ing the current" decade. Tentative plans list a new south Salem high school by 1958. School directors now are securing sites forjmore grade schools. There ap pears a trend toward smaller, neighborhood schools for young sters of the lower grades. . . Salem School Superintendent Frank B. Bennett in 1950 pre dicted a need for 100 additional elementary classrooms by 1958. He foresees an enrollment of 11,000 by 1955. Present enrollment is 8,000 .: ; Salem's school budget for 1950 was a shade under $2,000,000.-A fleet of 18 buses carries 1,600 children between school and home. Public night school makes classes available to adults, i And students, : who once sang the multiplication tables and state capitals in Salem schools,-' now learn to read before studying their A-B-Cs. . . . (Tha Statesman) July 4. 1851 (Ores City). Bells. A hrg chunk belt, weigluai ( BtMHlfts1 "i twenty pound, wm re ceived at thia lace Tuesday. It was purchased ia New Yuik by Cor. Am. kitst, fur tit M. E. Chorch f ilia city. It will ba "hung", in tha course of tbc week. This ia tba Cm bell of any consid erable aiza ever received iti Orrgoa. Uo. Aucbxthv also purchased three ether bell, which ar alto Lor. Ooe weighing en hundred a ad ninoty Ibe. is designed fajiba M. E. Church at I'urOiad. Ona wcigliinj ana hundred and forty lb.. Tut Salem ; and on weighing ana hundred nd thirty lb., for tba t'l-trkami Female Seminary in thia city. Recreation Areas Are Developed Two of Salem's eight parks date back to the very beginning of the Cherry Citys hirtory when the original' townsite was platted by Dr; W. H. Willson in 1850. One, Willson : park ; located between Stale and . Court streets west of the capitol, bears his name, and the other is .Marion Square, lo cated at Marion -and , Commercial streets.: ; 'I J . -- Willson park is a green sanc tuary j of beautiful trees, flower beds, shrubs and bushes,- blend ing into the beautiful state capi tol grounds near the statehouse. In the park are benches for re laxing under the shade trees on warm days. During the summer a community ; band gives weekly evening concerts, andj at Inter mission the audience can watch colored lights - playing on - the changing columns of water shoot ing up from the Waite Memorial fountain. J,, . . I ' Center of Interest Marion Square was a ! common meeting place in Salem's pioneer days. The i stately: - firs j of the square now tower high, giving a cool shelter from summer suns. In the youthful days of (the city the farmers , would tether their horses at the square . while con ducting business in town. For many years it was the focal point of Fourth of July celebrations and other patriotic observances. About the . turn of : the century '-a band stand was erected, but it is now gene and there are . only a . few picnic tables, benches, a children's wading , pool and a caretaker's shed. " i . Willson park and Marion Square were the only regular parks in Salem until well in i the 1900s when Kay park, now commonly known as Englewood park,- was acquired by the city from Thomas Kay, founder of the Kay Woolen mills. Located at 19th and Kay streets, the park consists of 8.6 acres of ground - covered by a large stand of old fir trees. There are no improvements in the park itself, but i adjoining Englewood schoo" has a tennis court and play grounds which add to the useful ness of the park. 'Pasture Largest i Largest park in the j 202-acre Salem system and one of the m vt picturesque in any city any where is 100-acre Bush pasture just south of the business section. Mor than half of the ! valuable tract was deeded as a gift to the city from A. N. Bush, as a me morial to his father, Asahel Bush. The remainder was purchased by the city for $150,000 in 1947. : Willamette university t acquired I. .1. J - 9 1 i X I -w? The erea set aside te protect this big Sequoia tree en Summer street in Salem Is reputedly the smallest mnnicipal park La the .nation. The tree was planted by a pioneer, William Waldo, la 1872, nearly 19 years, after he arrived in the; west. When Salem city streets were laid out, the tree was ea ; the right-of-way, bat rather than cut It down. It was set aside as a park. (State Highway photo.) 10 acres in the deal and a new: stadium, football field, baseball diamond and track are among de velopments .there thus far. i ? The paxv" area with its i trees, meadows,, hills and stream has been a mecca for young folks for generations. i : The , other - Salem j parks and playgrounds have been either pur-f chased or acquired through tax foreclosures. - f ! ' Highland park, at Broadway and Columbia streets, is a 2.7 acre piece of ground which has been land scaped and planted with shrubs and trees. The Junior Women's clubs recently purchased several pieces of playground equipment for smaller children. . Pringle park is a triangular sec tion of ground lying . between Shelton ditch - and Pringle creek at Cottage " and Oak streets with an area of 8.6 acres. Pringle park, along - with ' two playgrounds at 15th and Mill streets and 22nd and Lee streets, has been cleared and cleaned of underbrush, but further development is dependent upon city funds. One of the best equipped parks for . recreation ' is Kingwood . in west Salem which came into the city park system with the an nexation of West Salem in 1949. Small in area, the park has an attractive children's wading pool, swings, rings, teeter-totters, fire place and picnic tables. It is shad ed by many trees and has been well kept. It was purchased in 1941 by West Salem from Polk county. Salem parks have not been de veloped to the extent of parks in many-other cities, partly because ol the natural recreational oppor tunities 1 afforded throughout the valley. But the. city has grown, and while : the two swimming pools, at the senior high school and Leslie Junior high school, and playground : facilities on school grounds once sufficed for Salem youth, they are now deemed in adequate. ' Foi this reason a park advisory board has been set up, including Milton L. Meyers, H. L. Staver and Miss Elizabeth Lord, and a comprehensive and practical plan foi park, river-front and recrea tional development has been pre pared by the Salem Long Range Planning -commission. 6,000,000 homo appliances proven in use throughout tho world sinco I 1877 1 r 2lL3 ' Oiilty tho Refrigerator givos you Prcs-Toa j .'AS- HmU ImUt JtK PUS-TOI-tooc opatu! XSrhaft amoro. k ttyi rssmatil ye PRJES-TOfi agsia, walk away, door closes. All awto SMticaily . . . NO HANDS! rA4Wailf5fjL ' see rresTee mmd i eher Sott-tt'riag edTaaags get im Csbsoai alooe. A mm and ELECTRIC RANGE MAL a " a l at r fe or afoeraoa toack el Msgit DUi docs it! Oowsk a big, 6-qt. deepweU cooker. Up: a giaati fourth furface cooking mtver avor rcd so lossch at for raisin; or lowering! Ona esy tura ol the Msgic Dist docs k sli! Cosae see Msgic Up A-Dmsy aad all the other exclusive Gsbtoa fcatarcs...TODAYI ; GIBSON REFRIGERATORS . . . RANGES ... IIOr.lE FREEZERS . . . j Always Gives Familiet DenefitsJThey Want - O BEAUTY ! 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