A Grand Tradition

This downtown block, now site of the Salem Conference Center and The Grand Hotel, has a legacy of hospitality and comfort for those from out of town. The Chemeketa House originally opened here in December of 1870 as Oregon’s premier hotel. It featured 17-foot ceilings in the lobby, hot and cold running water, speaking tubes, and strategically placed “comfort stations with self-acting water closets” throughout the building. Another particularly modern luxury was a telegraph in each guest room, catering to the business traveler well over a century before the dawn of the Internet age.

Renamed the Marion Hotel in 1911, it was well on its way to being the unofficial center for state and local “backroom” politics. During its 101-year history, the ornate basement lounge was the watering hole of choice for legislators, lobbyists, government officials and business people. Many profound decisions that shaped local, state and even national politics took place at “The Marion.”

After surviving numerous fires over the years, the Marion Hotel burned down on November 12, 1971. A new hotel was built in its place by the Red Lion chain and later sold, then demolished to make way for the Salem Conference Center and The Grand Hotel, which opened March 1, 2005 as part of a Downtown Urban Renewal public/private partnership project.

The Marion derived its name from Marion County which was named after Brigadier General Francis Marion, Patriot and hero of the American Revolution.

This area was originally name the Champooick (and later Champoeg) District of the Oregon Territory, with Salem serving as the Territorial Capital. Upon statehood, it was renamed Marion County. Today, Salem is both State Capital and County Seat.

Timeline at bottom

1859 Salem Population: 1,139

Oregon becomes the 33rd State in the Union.

1959 Salem Population: 49,142

Oregon celebrates 100 Years of Statehood.

2009 Salem Population: 156,955

Oregon celebrates 150 Years of Statehood.

Photo caption at top

Photo at left (early 1900s)

The Chemeketa House, which later became the Marion Hotel, featured a “telegraph” in every guest room. Horses and carriages were paddocked nearby. . This historical marker is in Central Area in Salem in Marion County Oregon