[HistoricCemeterieslistserv] Salem Pioneer Cemetery listed on the National Register

[Historic Cemeteries]

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
 
NEWS RELEASE                    Date: October 8, 2013
 
MEDIA CONTACT: 
 
Diana Painter, Architectural Historian, State Historic Preservation
Office
503-986-0668; Diana.Painter at state.or.us 
 
Salem Pioneer Cemetery listed in the National Register of Historic
Places
 
Salem Pioneer Cemetery, the historic Odd Fellows Rural Cemetery in
Salem, is among Oregon’s 
latest entries in the National Register of Historic Places.
 
The cemetery, established in 1854 by Chemeketa Lodge No. 1, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, is among the very oldest fraternal society burial
grounds in Oregon. Located on South Commercial Street, the historical
alignment of the territorial road, the cemetery rises upslope toward the
west, to a point overlooking the Willamette Valley to the east.
 
By 1890 the cemetery had been enlarged to its current size of 17.05
acres, representing the 
city’s only example of a cemetery in the Rural Cemetery tradition. It
is known as the final resting 
place of Samuel R. Thurston, Oregon’s first delegate to the Congress of
the United States, and 
as the burial ground of many other significant figures in early Oregon
government and the founding of the capital city’s educational, social
and commercial institutions. The Salem Pioneer Cemetery Association,
organized in 1949, changed the cemetery’s name before disbanding in
1954.  Today the cemetery is under the on-going stewardship of the City
of Salem and the Friends of Pioneer Cemetery.  It remains an active
burial ground for the descendants of original plot owners. 
 
Oregon’s State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation recommended
the cemetery’s 
nomination in their June 2013 meeting. The cemetery and its adjacent
neighbor, City View Cemetery, make up a significant scenic and
historical open space in south Salem.  Salem Pioneer Cemetery is among
23 Oregon cemeteries presently listed in the National Register, which is
maintained by the National Park Service under the authority of the
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.
 
More information about the National Register and recent Oregon lists is
online at 
www.oregonheritage.org (click on “National Register” at left of page).
 
 
Kuri Gill
Oregon Heritage
725 Summer St. NE, Suite C
Salem, OR 97301-1266
(503) 986-0685
(503) 986-0793 (fax)
kuri.gill at state.or.us
www.oregonheritage.org
www.facebook.com/oregonheritage
http://oregonheritage.wordpress.com/
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