Her name tag says Fannie Kay Bishop, but it takes a minute and some quick math to discern that our docent couldn’t actually be the daughter of the man who built the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill in Salem, Ore.
Erected in 1896, the mill is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Docents like Holly Miles (aka Fannie) give visitors a look into a portion of Salem’s history, from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s.
“The first thing you should know is that sheep are dirty,” Miles begins, and with that, we proceed to two floors and through a maze of rooms, equipment and the 15 steps required to create a wool blanket. Miles can recite the purpose and function of a dizzying collection of gears, pulleys, spools, levers and wheels that appear ready to move into action at any second.
And with the push of a button and a clang-bang, Miles sets the loom and its myriad of components into motion – truly tributes to the late 19th-century engineers who designed and built this complex system.
Throughout the tour, Miles sprinkles her narration with anecdotes about life in the early 1900s, the Kay family and especially Fannie, who was 15 when she began working with her father at the mill, learning all facets of the business.
“She really knew a lot more about the business than her brother” who inherited the mill, Miles says, “but then women didn’t inherit the family business back then.”
The beautifully preserved and refurbished mill is the centerpiece of the Willamette Heritage Center, comprising 13 additional historic buildings on 5 acres. They tell the story of the growth of Oregon’s Mid-Willamette Valley, which included 19th-century missionaries and immigrants who came west on the Oregon Trail. The collection includes the oldest standing wooden-frame homes in the Pacific Northwest and a church, all moved to the center’s grounds from elsewhere in the Salem area.
We are headquartered for our four-day visit at the 127-room Holman Riverfront Park Hotel in downtown Salem. As the name suggests, the boutique hotel is but a three-minute walk to Riverfront Park’s 26 acres, created by reclaiming what was industrial land. The transformation produced plenty of green space and a walking/bicycle trail that runs along the Willamette River — a great route even on a blustery Oregon day.
Opened 2½ years ago, the Holman is named for the building that stood on the same site and served as state offices from 1857 to 1876 after fire destroyed the first state capitol. The spacious rooms and common spaces have a smart, comfortable vibe, and the contemporary exterior was designed with the area’s historic buildings in mind.
Earlier in the day we toured another of Salem’s historic gems — Deepwood Museum & Gardens, an exquisitely preserved Queen Anne Victorian home that sits among 5 acres of public gardens.
Docent Sharon Hoff tells us the story of this grand house, built in 1894 as a memorial to a son lost at sea. Eventually, the painstakingly designed stained-glass windows, carved parlor fireplace and other built-in memorials became only painful reminders, so the family moved after only 16 months.
Hoff is remarkable at explaining the many artifacts from the late 19th and early 20th centuries that cover nearly every surface. Tiny high-button shoes illustrate that humans once were considerably smaller and that women’s fashions were always too warm and too tight.
“Hence the fainting couches,” Hoff says.
An intricately woven hair wreath has us peering nose-to-glass at this fascinating (and maybe ghoulish) family heirloom. It may have taken hundreds of hours to fashion the tiny curlicues and rosebuds made from human hair, and the different shades indicate that the hair probably came from multiple family members.
We had only a day to delve into Salem’s history, but for more on historic buildings, visit https://www.cityofsalem.net/community/things-to-do/history.
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