Salem, the capital of Oregon

Oregon City

The first seat of government in Oregon was Oregon City. It was the seat of the provisional government from 1845 and remained the capital in the early years of Oregon Territory.

A disputed move to Salem

On February 1, 1851, the territorial legislature passed an act naming Salem the capital. The territorial governor, John P. Gaines, disputed it, and the question went to Congress, which confirmed Salem as the territorial capital in 1852.

The argument was not over. In 1855 the legislature voted to move the capital to Corvallis, then called Marysville. It convened there on December 3, 1855, but federal money for public buildings had been tied to the capital Congress had designated, so the lawmakers voted to go back, and they reconvened in Salem on December 18, 1855.

The voters decide

The 1857 state constitution left the permanent seat of government to the voters. In statewide elections in 1862 and 1864, Salem won with roughly twice Portland’s total, settling the question for good.

Three capitols

Salem’s capitols have had bad luck with fire. The first statehouse burned on December 29, 1855, after scarcely a month in use. The second burned on April 25, 1935.

The current Capitol was built between December 1936 and June 1938, designed by Trowbridge and Livingston with Francis Keally, with Whitehouse and Church as associate architects. It is a Modernistic design of the Art Deco era, faced in Vermont Danby marble over a granite base. Legislative wings designed by Wolf, Zimmer, Gunsul, Frasca were added in 1977.

The grounds

The Capitol grounds hold a living link to the deep past: a dawn redwood, Oregon’s state fossil tree, grows in Willson Park on the Capitol grounds.

Visiting

For visitor information and tours, check with the Oregon State Legislature.