August 4, 2016 – Rearranging History: Salem’s Hollywood District

Show Notes

The Hollywood District of northeast Salem was a self-contained community supported by neighborhood businesses. This area on the edges of the late-1800s Highland Addition developed around the intersections of Fairgrounds Road, Portland Road, Tile Road, Hazel Avenue and other local streets, meeting in a spoke fashion. The Hollywood District had become blighted by the late 1960s. In 1970, Salem leaders took on the task of redesigning the dangerous intersections and improving the economic viability of this area by creating an Urban Renewal district of approximately 18.6 acres, a first for the City of Salem. What you see today bears little resemblance to the bustling neighborhood of the 1940s.