Salem is the capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood of West Salem is in Polk County. Salem was founded in 1842, became the capital of the Oregon Territory in 1851, and was incorporated in 1857.
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 187 miles (301 km) long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward between the Oregon Coast Range and the Cascade Range, the river and its tributaries form the Willamette Valley, a basin that contains two-thirds of Oregon's population, including the state capital, Salem, and the state's largest city, Portland, which surrounds the Willamette's mouth at the Columbia.
Lebanon is a city in Linn County, Oregon, United States. Lebanon is located in northwest Oregon, southeast of Salem. The population was 19,690 at the 2020 census. Lebanon sits beside the South Santiam River on the eastern edge of the Willamette Valley, close to the Cascade Range and a 25-minute drive to either of the larger cities of Corvallis and Albany. Lebanon is known for its foot-and-bike trails, its waterside parks, and its small-town character.
Wilsonville is a city primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A portion of the northern section of the city is in Washington County. It was founded as Boones Landing because of the Boones Ferry which crossed the Willamette River at the location; the community became Wilsonville in 1880. The city was incorporated in 1969 with a population of approximately 1,000. The population was 13,991 at the 2000 census, and grew to 19,509 as of 2010. Slightly more than 90% of residents at the 2000 census were white, with Hispanics comprising the largest minority group.
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. Boon House, the Pleasant Grove (Condit) Church. The houses and church were relocated to the mill site. The Center also includes a research library and archives of Marion County history.
John Minto IV was an American pioneer born in Wylam, England. He was a prominent sheep farmer in the U.S. state of Oregon and a four-time Republican representative in the state legislature. Minto also volunteered for the militia during the Cayuse War and years later helped locate Minto and Santiam passes through the Cascade Mountains east of Salem, Oregon.
Ellendale is a ghost town in Polk County, Oregon, United States, about two and a half miles west of Dallas. It was the first settlement in present-day Polk County by non-Kalapuyans. The community's name changed over the years, with the first post office in Polk County being opened in this locality as "O'Neils Mills" in 1850. The post office was renamed "Nesmiths" in 1850 and discontinued in 1852. The community was eventually renamed Ellendale.
Gatke Hall is the second-oldest building at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, United States. A two-story structure, it was originally built in downtown Salem in 1903 across the street from the Marion County Courthouse and served as a post office. The Beaux Arts styled building was moved to the university in 1938 and first served as the home to the law school.
Eaton Hall is an academic building on the campus of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, United States. Completed in 1909, the four-story brick and stone hall is the fourth oldest building on the campus of the school after Waller Hall (1867), Gatke Hall (1903), and the Art Building (1907). Eaton is a mix of architectural styles and houses the humanities departments of the liberal arts college.
The Waldo Hills are a range of hills in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, United States. Encompassing an area of around 50 square miles (130 km2), the hills are located east of Salem. The hills are named after pioneer Daniel Waldo.
Mill Creek is a 26-mile (42 km) tributary of the Willamette River that drains a 111-square-mile (290 km2) area of Marion County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Flowing generally west from its source south of Silver Falls State Park, it passes through the cities of Aumsville, Stayton, Sublimity, and Turner before emptying into the Willamette in Salem.
Balch Creek is a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) tributary of the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Beginning at the crest of the Tualatin Mountains, the creek flows generally east down a canyon along Northwest Cornell Road in unincorporated Multnomah County and through the Macleay Park section of Forest Park, a large municipal park in Portland. At the lower end of the park, the stream enters a pipe and remains underground until reaching the river. Danford Balch, after whom the creek is named, settled a land claim along the creek in the mid-19th century. After murdering his son-in-law, he became the first person legally hanged in Oregon.
Willamette Mission State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Oregon, located about four miles (6 km) north of Keizer adjacent to the Wheatland Ferry and east of the Willamette River. It includes Willamette Station Site, Methodist Mission in Oregon, which is listed by the National Register of Historic Places.
Ash Creek is a short stream in Polk County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. Formed by the merger of its north and middle forks near Monmouth, it flows generally east to meet the Willamette River at Independence. The creek passes under Oregon Route 51 just before entering the river. The creek's mouth is about 95 miles (153 km) upstream of the Willamette's confluence with the Columbia River.
Walter David Pugh was an American architect based in Salem, Oregon, United States.
The Willamette River is a 187-mile (301 km) tributary of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Oregon. The upper tributaries of the Willamette originate in mountains south and southeast of the twin cities of Eugene and Springfield. Formed by the confluence of the Middle Fork Willamette River and Coast Fork Willamette River near Springfield, the main stem meanders generally north from source to mouth. The river's two most significant course deviations occur at Newberg, where the stream turns sharply east, and about 18 miles (29 km) downriver from Newberg, where it turns north again. Near its mouth, the river splits into two channels that flow around Sauvie Island. The main channel enters the Columbia about 101 miles (163 km) from the larger stream's mouth on the Pacific Ocean, and the smaller Multnomah Channel enters the Columbia about 14.5 miles (23.3 km) further downstream near St. Helens in Columbia County.
The Christmas flood of 1964 was a major flood in the United States' Pacific Northwest and some of Northern California between December 18, 1964, and January 7, 1965, spanning the Christmas holiday.
Pringle Creek is a small tributary of the Willamette River that drains a 15-square-mile (39 km2) area of Marion County in the U.S. state of Oregon. The entire watershed lies within the urban growth boundary of the City of Salem. Pringle Creek's tributaries include Clark Creek, West Fork Pringle Creek, West Middle Fork and East Fork.
Suver is an unincorporated community in Polk County, Oregon, United States. It is located about 10 miles north of Corvallis and about 8 miles south of Monmouth, 1 mile east of Oregon Route 99W.
Salem Ditch is an artificial canal in Marion County, Oregon, United States. It drains into Mill Creek.
