SILVERTON
A COMMUNITY PROFILE Article from the Oregonian 12/19/99

Like its eponymous creek, the quiet city continues to go with history's flow

By Nancy McCarthy, Special Writer

Tucked in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, Silverton continues to balance the new and the old. Growth continues in this town of 6,800, yet the town's hub maintains its farm town hospitality, Penny parking meters line the streets of downtown Silverton, most of which is designated a national historic district. Twenty-five cents buys two hours of parking – plenty of time to enjoy a chopping area three blocks wide and eight blocks long. (Correction: Ten cents buys two hours of parking).

Most mornings, downtown retailers, retirees and visitors gather at the oval counter in the Towne House Restaurant for breakfast and conversation. At noon, the peace is temporarily disturbed when the fire siren is tested, assuring volunteer firefighters that it still works.

On weekends from May through Labor Day, the town celebrates its agricultural heritage with festivals, such as the Mother's Day Wildflower Show, the Iris Jubilee and the Strawberry Festival. Cooley's Iris Display Garden also provides a colorful reminder of Silverton's roots.

Fish, frogs and pets also have their special celebrations, as do historical figures Al Faussett, who plunged over the South Falls in a canoe. Homer Davenport, a native son who became an editorial cartoonist in New York and brought the first Arabian horses to the United States.

For families, the YMCA provides activities for youngsters, including a skate park. Silverton Together offers parenting classes and sponsors a community family picnic every summer. The annual Mayor's Ball, staged this year at the Oregon Garden amphitheater, is open to adults and youths.

Murals depicting significant events and players in Silverton's history, such as the white oak tree that once stood in the center of town and the Red Sox semi-pro baseball team, decorate buildings that date to the early 1900's. The town has yet to install its first traffic light (though one may soon be coming).

"It's a blue-jean, no-tie town," said Mason Branstetter, broker and owner of Silverton Realty. "It's knowing people on the first-name basis. It's going to the one high school in town, yelling your guts out at football games."

The town's name comes from the creek that runs through it, and Silver Creek may have been named after John Smith, nicknamed "Silver" because he brought the precious metal to the area.

A tannery sat on the creek in 1846; after the town was founded in 1854, several lumber mills called the creek home. In the 1890's, the Silver Creek provided power for Silverton's first lights, and it became Silverton's first water supply system in the 1910s and 20s. Where the creek meets the Cascades, it became a source of recreation for visitors to Silver Falls State park.

Across the creek, about two miles on the southwest side of town, construction crews are building the 240-acre Oregon Garden, which is slated to be a world-class garden rivaling even Butschart Garden in Vancouver, British Columbia, Branstetter said. While some residents eagerly anticipate the recognition the area will receive, others worry about changes that an estimated 400,000 annual visitors could bring.
Fred Parkinson, who operated a Silverton drugstore for 39 years, was the town's mayor and represented North Marion County in the state Legislature for 12 years. He calls Silverton a "wonderful community to raise a family." Parkinson said he will enjoy the garden but realizes that it will affect Silverton.

"The garden will cause more growth, It will mean more people and more traffic in front of my house," he said, "I'm ambivalent about it."

But his wife, Nola Parkinson, said the project is exciting.

"If even 85 percent of what they envision happens, I think it will be wonderful," she said.

HOUSING STOCK

Neighborhoods on either side of Silver Creek feature a side range of styles reflecting theras in which they were built. Late 19th century Victorians mingle with 1920s bungalows and ‘70s ranch style houses in the central area. Farther out, new subdivisions are going up.

In recent years, 30 to 40 single-family residences have been built annually, and, at that rate, the city has enough buildable land to last for 20 years, said Sam Litke, the city's community development director.

Newer subdivision, like Mountain high in the southeast portion of the town, feature 1,300 to 1,600-square-foot houses ranging in price form $135,000 to $167,000. A new manufactured home development, Silver Cliff Estates, also is underway.

Houses are under construction in the 37-lot Mountain High development on Steelhammer Road above Silverton, Asking price averages $225,000 for three-bedroom, two-bathroom homes between 2,000 and 2,500 square feet. The average lost size is 7,500 square feet.

The Abiqua Heights subdivision, which overlooks the town, will have 164 lots with houses starting at $250,000. A lake and a community center are planned in the development.

"Developers are attracted by the small town charm and character, it has a lot of strong appeal," Litke said. "They feel very attached."

BIG DEMAND

Housing prices in Silverton are 15 to 20 percent higher than in Salem because of the demand for housing in the town out steps the supply, real estate representatives said. Starter homes under $100,000 are rare.

"It takes $110,000 to $120,000 to find something in good shape," said Cliff Harris, broker for Silver Falls Realty. "But probably 10 to 15 percent of the older homes are as expensive as the newer homes. They're in neighborhoods and have lot sizes that you can't get anymore."

Many people who live in Silverton commute to Salem. People who work in Portland also are beginning to move to Silverton, Branstetter said. The commute is 30 minutes to Salem and about an hour to Portland.

Fun, too, lies within easy reach. "It's an hour and 15 minutes to the coast, and hour and a half to Mount Hood and two hours to Mount Bachelor," Branstetter added. "They can do anything they want and do it any season."

"Then they can come back home and get away from the big city atmosphere."