The west side of the WHC’s parking lot once belonged to the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. Facing Mill Street stood Section Houses — housing for railroad workers and their families. Today a interpretive sign stands approximately where the houses stood. Facing the railroad tracks and 12th Street were a series of sheds, used by the railroad for housing track maintenance equipment.
1245 Mill Street — Section Housing
¿Quién vivía aquí?
Pablo Martínez vivió aquí durante más de 20 años, durante los cuales se casó con María Herrera ye tuvieron tres hijos, dos hijos y una hija. Martínez nació en 1903 cerca de Concepción, una ciudad Andina en Perú. Emigró por el Puerto de Astoria en 1923. Trabajó para la empresa ferrocarril Sur Pacífico durante 48 años. Durante muchos años, fue un jefe de una pandilla de trabajadores del ferrocarril llamada “Pandilla Extra #23.”
El ferrocarril Sur Pacífico dependía de obradores mexicanos como Refugio Torrez y Rafael Vega para construir y mantener las líneas de ferrocarril en el oeste de los Estados Unidos – especialmente durante la falta de mano de obra que ocurrió después de la legislación que excluyó la inmigración china en 1882 y durante la segunda guerra mundial.
Who Lived Here?
Pablo Martinez lived here for more than 20 years, during which he married Mary Herrera and they had three children, two sons and one daughter. Martinez was born in 1903 near Conception, an Andean city in Peru. He immigrated through the Port of Astoria in 1923. He worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad for 48 years. For many years he was the foreman of a gang of railroad workers called “Extra Gang #23.”
The Southern Pacific relied on Mexican-born workers like Refugio Torrez and Rafael Vega to build and maintain track age throughout the western United States. They stepped in to provide much needed labor through shortages caused by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and WWII.
Salem City Directory Listings for 1245 Mill Street
Year Street Guide People listing
1928/29 | No | No Martinez |
1930-31 | No | No Martinez |
1932 | No | Paul Martinez lab SP Co. r 1245 Mill |
1934 | No | Pablo Martinez, lab SP Co. R 1245 Mill |
1935 | 1245 Mill – Pablo Martinez | No |
1936-7 | Ford, Edward D. | Ford, Edward D. (Leora L.) Laborer 1245 Mill St |
1938-39 | Y | Martinez, Paul M. (Mary H.) H. 1245 Mill St. |
1940-41 | Y | Martinez, Paul (Maria) Sectionman SP Co. |
1942 | Y | Paul Martinez (Mary) Sectionman SP.Co. |
1945 | SP Co. Maintenance Department | Paul Martinez (Mary) Emp. SP Co
Andrew E. Swenson (Vera F.) Section Foreman |
1947 | SP Co. Maintenance Department | Fred W. Bezdek (Rose Mary) emp. SP Co
Hobart A. Kent (Loma) Emp. SP Co. Paul Martinez (Mary) Emp. SP. Co. Jas. A. Robers (Mary) Emp. SP.Co. |
1949 | SP Co. Maintenance Dept | Paul Martinez (Mary) lab.
Louis A. Peschel (Elsie) Lab. Arthur D. Ratzlaff (Dorothy M.) Lab Ervin K. Sammons (Emma) Assit. Foreman |
1951 | SP Co. Maintenance Dept | Paul Martinez (Mary) Employee SP Co.
Louis A. Peschel (Elsie) Employee SPCo. Frank K. Stiers (Irene) Sectionman, SP CO. |
1953-4 | SP Co. Maintenance Dept. | Paul Martinez (Mary) Foreman SPCO.
Victor R. Valladarez (Jean) Laborer, SP Co. |
1955 | SP Maintenance Department | No |
1956 | SP Co. Mainetenance Department
Izler, Emil |
Emil Iszler (Verna) lab. SP Co. H. 1245 Mill |
1957 | Maintenance Department | Emil Isler (Verna) maintenance Shop |
1958 | SP Co. Mtce. Dept. | Emil Isler (Verna) Mtce Supt. SPCo. |
1959 | SP Co. Mtce. Dept. | Emil Isler (Verna) Mtce Supt. SPCo |
1960 | SP Mtce. Dept | |
1961 | SP Mtc. Dept | |
1970 | SP Mtce Dept | |
1975 | Maintenance Department | |
1980 | Not listed |
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