Archivists and Heritage Conference at Old Site of Brewery

The Northwest Archivists and the Oregon Heritage Commission together are holding their annual conference Thursday and Friday. Welcome conventioneers!

Hopefully they'll be thirsty. Hopefully they'll also take a moment to remember all the great history and great buildings that used to be on the block.

Regular readers will know the Convention Center's sculpture garden, on the southwest corner, was the site of Salem's big brewery.

By 1911 the brewery had expanded dramatically.


The labels are a little hard to read. In the outer circle, clockwise from top: Armory, Machine Works, Wagon Sheds, Stables, Bottle House, Wash House, Brew House, Cellars, Storage, Hotel Marion (the cellars and storage are in the building pictured at the top of our blog header!)

In a sort of inner Circle, clockwise: Ice plant, Boiler House

Along the edges: Trade Street, Oregon Electric RR, Southern Pacific RR (SPRR), Commercial Street

Look at all the rail service! And even in 1911, horses rather than trucks were the most important transportation for local delivery.

Here's the brewery between 1953, when it closed, and 1956 when it was demolished.


And here's the view today!


That's the Conference Center, hotel, and parking lot.

On the northwest corner, hopefully the historical marker and interpretive panel on the stair landing in the Salem Conference Center, overlooking the intersection of Ferry and Commercial will be back. You may recall that it disappeared.

It commemorated the Holman and Nesmith Buildings, currently where the parking garage and Umpqua Bank are. The Territorial and early State governments met in the Holman and Nesmith buildings, and you can see the heading "Statehood began here" at the top of the panel.

Visitors should also take a moment to rememeber Fred Legg, not the most distinguished architect active in Salem, but probably the "Salem-iest" of architects. Many of his buildings remain, solid and still useful, if not always remarkable.

Socrates was Permanently Pissed: U Think on the Parthenon

Tomorrow night at 6:30pm at Brown's, U Think considers the Parthenon with geoarcheologist Scott Pike.

Built from 447-432 BCE, the Parthenon is considered the penultimate example of Doric architecture, Athenian self-determination and democratic ideals. Yet, despite its importance, there is still much to be learned about how the Parthenon was built.

Analyses of isotopes provide information about the origin of the Parthenon’s building materials. Tracing this ancient Greek supply chain sheds light upon the society’s complex social and economic systems.

We like to think of Socrates and Plato putting away the pints while they admire the temple!

Immanuel Kant was a real pissant
Who was very rarely stable.

Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar
Who could think you under the table.

David Hume could out-consume
Schopenhauer and Hegel,

And Wittgenstein was a beery swine
Who was just as schloshed as Schlegel.

There's nothing Nietzsche couldn't teach ya
'Bout the raising of the wrist.
Socrates, himself, was permanently pissed.

John Stuart Mill, of his own free will,
On half a pint of shandy was particularly ill.

Plato, they say, could stick it away --
Half a crate of whisky every day.

Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle.
Hobbes was fond of his dram,

And René Descartes was a drunken fart.
"I drink, therefore I am."

Yes, Socrates, himself, is particularly missed,
A lovely little thinker,
But a bugger when he's pissed.