Salem, Oregon Salem, Oregon Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood of West Salem is in Polk County. Salem was founded in 1842, became the capital of the Oregon Territory in 1851, and was incorporated in 1857. Salem had a population of 154,637 at the 2010 census, making it the third largest city in the state after Portland
Oregon State Penitentiary (with two men and one woman, also slated for execution, held elsewhere for medical reasons). Death row includes notorious serial killers such as Dayton Leroy Rogers. OSP also contains the lethal injection chamber where prisoners are executed. Executions in Oregon were conducted in public by counties until 1902, when they were centralized (and made less spectacular) at the State Penitentiary. Since the US Supreme Court reaffirmed the death penalty in "Gregg v. Georgia" (1976), Oregon has executed only two people: Douglas Wright, in 1996, and Harry Charles Moore, in 1997. Governor John Kitzhaber announced an official moratorium on executions in