Bush's Pasture Park

90-acre historic park with rose gardens, Victorian mansion, and 1882 conservatory

Address 890 Mission St SE, Salem, OR 97302
Admission Free (park); Bush House Museum $6 adults
Opening Hours Park: daily dawn–dusk; Bush House Museum: Tue–Sun 12:00pm–5:00pm

Bush's Pasture Park is 90 acres of wooded paths, open meadows, and formal gardens tucked into a residential neighbourhood south of downtown. The rose gardens in the north section bloom from May through October and are free to wander.

The Bush House, an 1877 Italianate mansion on the north edge of the park, is one of the best-preserved Victorian homes in Oregon. Tours run through the original furnished interior, including a rare intact parlour with the family's original marble fireplaces and wallpaper. The adjacent Greenhouse Conservatory, built in 1882, is one of the oldest still-operating greenhouses in the western United States.

The Bush Barn Art Center on the south side of the house holds rotating contemporary art exhibitions and is operated by the Salem Art Association. Admission to the art centre is free.

things to do sight park garden
A story
Asahel Bush II, the park's original owner, was one of Oregon's most powerful 19th-century figures: newspaper editor, banker, and political boss who helped shape Democratic politics in the state for decades. He built the Italianate mansion in 1877 and lived there until his death in 1913. He refused to sell or subdivide his estate throughout his lifetime; Salem only acquired the land as a park after his heirs donated it in 1953.

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