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Salem Substation added to National Register of Historic Places

The Salem Substation Historic District’s control house, which completed construction in 1942, is preserved in the streamline moderne architectural style.

The Salem Substation Historic District, which includes three historic resources, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in April.

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The control house in particular serves as a reminder of BPA's historic architectural practices and commitment to modernity during the era.

The Salem Substation Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in April for its crucial role during the Bonneville Power Administration's Master Grid development period that began in the late 1930s. The Salem Substation joins Covington Substation as the only two BPA substations listed in the NRHP.

The Salem Substation Historic District covers 8.35 acres of land and includes three historic resources built between 1939 and 1942: the switchyard, control house and transfer track. Constructed and energized in an era that marked BPA's establishment as a federal agency, the Salem Substation played a key role in energizing rural Oregon communities with hydroelectricity from the Columbia River. The substation is also historically significant for helping to power local industrial manufacturers during World War II.

The control house in particular serves as a reminder of BPA's historic architectural practices and commitment to modernity during the era. BPA completed the control house in 1942 and used the streamline moderne architectural style, which is commonly understood to represent functionality, speed and innovation. This style's influence on the control house is recognizable by the curved lines, rounded corners, block windows and aluminum detailing.

A collection of historic photographs of the Salem Substation Historic District are available through BPA's photo database RIVER.

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States' official list of buildings, districts, structures, sites and objects important to local, state or national history. The National Park Service oversees the NRHP program, which in Oregon, is administered by the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office.

Inclusion in the NRHP is an honorary designation for historically significant places worthy of preservation. As BPA and the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office already deemed the substation historically significant, there are no new preservation requirements. BPA will continue to carry out its National Historic Preservation Act responsibilities, balancing the preservation of federally owned historic places with ongoing operation and maintenance requirements to meet the agency's mission and authorizations.

For more information on the Salem Substation Historic District's new designation in the NRHP, contact BPA's historians at historian@bpa.gov.

 

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