Most people in the area may have heard of Portland's Hollywood District, since its Hollywood Theatre still exists. But did you know Salem had one to?
Welcome to Salem's Hollywood District. It named after Salem's own 1930's Hollywood Theatre located on Capital Street. The location was about where the US Bank/Salem Clinic is today. It was considered Salem's first Suburban Theatre and neighborhood. It was a full shopping area with stores and business lining Fairgrounds road and Capital Street. The theatre was torn down in 1971 and the whole are was reconfigured as part of Urban Renewal. A new post office was built and new streets installed and Salem Clinic opened. But the Hollywood District lost most of its shopping over the years. The old National Guard building was torn down in the late 1990's and sat vacant until the Walgreens went up in its place in the mid-2000's. The photo on this page is an aerial view of the neighborhood from around 1957. The Hollywood Theatre is just barely out of the photo on the left of the photo. The cache is located somewhere in the lower right corner of the image. Can you pick buildings that still exist? Keep in mind the streets have been reconfigured.
The cache is nothing special, but the neighborhood history is.