Good evening!
Yesterday, after work, I had some time and I decided I would make good use of it by going down to the Salem train station. It is one of my absolute favorite buildings in all of Salem, matter of fact, if it weren’t for the fact that it is right next to the train tracks, I could imagine myself and my sweetie converting this building into our home.
I did a little bit of reading this evening to see what I can find out about this building, and I discovered that not only is it on the National Historic Registry, but it is actually the third train station built in this location, the first two having burnt to the ground in both 1885, and 1917.
This building was actually built in 1918, and is one of only 5 of the original masonry buildings that still exist on the original Southern Pacific West Coast Line.
Although quite small on the inside, at least from where I was standing, there are some really beautiful architectural details on the inside of this building too. I especially loved the light fixtures, which there were two of, hanging from the high ceilings of the depot.
The outside isn’t too shabby either! There was a massive restoration project done by the Oregon Department of Transportation that was completed in 2000. The style of this building is called Beaux-Arts-style.
There are so many architectural details to see, that I walked around this building 3 times catching new elements with my eye and camera each time I circled the building.
It was such an amazingly sunny afternoon, and I was absolutely struck how vividly blue our normally grey sky was. It was quite breathtaking.
Another fun fact about this building is that Amtrak rents this building from the government for only $1 a year, in exchange for building and ground maintenance. Isn’t that amazing??? I think that is PHENOMENAL!! 😉
Here are some more of those great architectural details. I am absolutely in LOVE with these pillars, have been since I was a little girl, but it was only by taking these pictures that I was able to notice the detail at the top of these stately columns.
See what I mean? And I just adore the molding around the top of the building too. They don’t make buildings like this any longer!
These are the original light fixtures. They are ginormous! And although I don’t really show it well here, the arched windows are really quite astonishingly beautiful!
Here is some more detail at the base of the pillars.
Finally, here is one of the front corners of the building! I had so much fun investigating this lovely piece of Salem’s history.
I literally drive by this building every day, and I almost forget that it is even there. This experience has inspired me to make an effort to purposefully go out and find out what other great buildings from history are out there just waiting to be rediscovered!! Who knew history could be so fun!?? I can’t wait to see what I find next!!
Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 
“If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!”
