Salem Public Archaeology Open House June 20

Join the public Archaeology Open House on June 20, 2026, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. at Willamette University. See our excavation site and recovered artifacts at the former Oregon Indian Mission Manual Labor School on Willamette University's campus (east of Smullin Hall, 900 State Street, Salem).

Salem's public archaeology project is focusing on investigating the site of the former Oregon Indian Mission Manual Labor School on Willamette University's campus. A Certified Local Government (CLG) grant awarded to the City of Salem's Historic Landmarks Commission from Oregon Heritage is funding this public archaeology project that began in 2025.

The site is being explored by our Historic Preservation Program and community partners including Willamette University, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde and the Oregon Archaeological Society. The site on the Willamette University campus is believed to be where the Methodists' 1841 Indian Manual Labor Training School was located.

In 1841-42, Methodist missionaries built two buildings in the vicinity. One structure that would come to be known as the Parsonage, was originally located near where the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill Building stands today. The second was originally known as the Indian Manual Labor Training School. In 1844, it became the Oregon Institute. Finally, in 1853 it became known as Willamette University.

Through several non-invasive surveying techniques and excavation, archaeologists are hoping to identify the location of these two buildings and to provide greater context to their original purposes through significant moments and places in Tribal history and Euro-American settlement of Salem.

Learn more about the Oregon Mission Indian Manual Labor Training School Archaeology Project. The project website also includes links to Capital Community Media's Friday, June 20, 2025 Insight episode on the project as well as a LiDar scan of the excavation site showing the cobble floor of what we believe was the blacksmith shop association with the school.