Salem

Salem (pop. 278,024), capital and third-largest city of Oregon, in the fertile Willamette Valley about 50 mi (80.5 km) south of Portland. Founded in 1840 by Methodist missionaries, it was the territorial capital in the 1850s and became the state capital when Oregon was admitted to the Union in 1859. Salem is a food-processing and distribution center. Willamette University, founded as Oregon Institute in 1842, is the oldest university in the Pacific Northwest.

See also: Oregon.