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Salem
Salem (IPA: ˈseɪ ləm̩) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. The district of West Salem lies in Polk County. It is located in the mid-Willamette Valley, between Portland and Eugene. As of July 1 2006 it had a population of 149,305, with a metro area population of nearly 400,000, making it the second largest city, and second largest metropolitan area in Oregon (after Portland).
"Salem" is derived from the Hebrew word "Shalom", and the Arabic word "Salam" both meaning "peace". Historically, Salem has been nicknamed the "Cherry City", because of the importance of the local cherry growing industry.
History
The Native American name for the area was Chemeketa, which means "meeting or resting place". The name "Chemeketa" is preserved as the name of the local community college.
The first European settlement in the area was the Jason Lee mission in 1840. In 1842, the missionaries established the Oregon Institute (the forerunner of Willamette University) in the area that was to become the first townsite of Salem. In 1844, the mission was dissolved and the townsite established. According to Oregon Geographic Names, it is uncertain who chose the name for the town, but it is believed to be one of two people: Trustee David Leslie from Salem, Massachusetts, or William H. Willson who in 1850-1851 filed the plats for the main part of the city.
In 1851, Salem became the territorial capital after it was moved from Oregon City. The capital was moved briefly to Corvallis in 1855, but was moved back to Salem permanently that same year. A two-story state house, which had been occupied for only two months, burned to the ground in December of 1855. Salem was incorporated as a city in 1857 and became Oregon's state capital with statehood two years later.
Oregon's second capitol building was completed in 1876 on the site of the original. The Greek revival-style building was based in part on the U.S. Capitol building. The building received its distinctive copper dome in 1893. Tragically, fire claimed the second Oregon capitol building on April 25, 1935.
The third and current Oregon State Capitol was completed on the same site in 1938. It is recognizable by its distinctive gold-plated pioneer statue atop the capitol dome, officially named the Oregon Pioneer.
The first cherry festival in Salem was held in 1903. In the following decades, the event briefly became an annual event, with parades and the election of a cherry queen, but was disbanded after World War I. It was revived briefly as the Salem Cherryland Festival for several years in the late 1940s.
Economy
State government is Salem's largest employer, but the city also serves as a hub for the area farming communities and is a major agricultural food processing center. It lies along the I-5 corridor and is within an hour's drive of Oregon's largest city, Portland.
In a bid to diversify its economic base, Salem attracted a number of computer-related manufacturing plants in the 1990s. In November 2003, the...
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