The story
Read it all →How Salem came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Salem.
Salem was laid out and platted in 1814. It was named for Salem, North Carolina, the hometown of one of the city founders.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
AHistory
History · Salem
Salem dates to 1814, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #92 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 253 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1850.
1814founded
5on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
17famous people
Quick answers
How Salem began, and where its name came from
When was Salem founded?
1814
Salem dates its founding to 1814 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1850.
First census: 1,223 in 18502020 census: 6,371212 years
How did Salem get its name?
Salem was named for Salem, North Carolina, the hometown of one of the city founders.
How historic is Salem?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1815. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Salem’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Salem is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #92 of 593 in Indiana. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Salem’s overall grade.
Founding era1814, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194023.7% of homes (±4.2) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register5 listings, 257 historic buildings, 396 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 94%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 85%
Indiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Indiana town has 7.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Salem’s 396 sits above most of its state (94% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 257 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.2 points). Two sources give 1814.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Salem’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A historic districtThe Salem Downtown Historic District takes in 253 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1887 to 1910, drew every building in Salem.Deep rootsEstablished in 1814: 212 years of Salem.
★ What stands out · On the National Register
5 listings protect 257 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
257
each building in a district counts
first listed
1971
Hay-Morrison House
BuildingsDistricts
Architectural styles listings
Federal2
Richardsonian Romanesque2
French Second Empire1
Late Victorian1
Italianate1
19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Hay-Morrison HouseFederal
Washington County CourthouseRichardsonian Romanesque
Washington County Jail and Sheriff's ResidenceFrench Second Empire
First Baptist ChurchRichardsonian Romanesque · Built 1900
Salem Downtown Historic DistrictLate Victorian
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Help out
Start Salem’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Salem’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Every building
Salem, building by building, 1887–1910
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1887Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Salem in 1924
Passages that mention Salem, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Salem, Massachusetts1924 · page 345Read the page →
Read the text
with them for their part, the selectmen of Marblehead to be no¬ tified to do so. To oppose the endeavors to compel the town of Marblehead to contribute to the maintenance of the bridge, Mar¬ blehead petitioned the Salem court for relief as it was claimed that the Coy Pond land many years before was a part of their town and the channel of the river was the dividing line between the towns ; but, in 1679, Salem took the liberty of claiming those lands as a part of their territory, and set the town line over about
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Salem, Massachusetts1924 · page 175Read the page →
Read the text
traveling thither. The old path to Cape Ann was very poor indeed, probably nothing had been done to it. The first spot which was sought to be improved was at the creek at Mackerel Cove. Salem was presented to the local court because there was no sufficient bridge there ; and the town was ordered to make one. At a town meeting, Oct. 26, 1646, probably to meet the necessities of the Manchester settlers, the town of Salem ordered that a way between the ferry at Salem and the head of Jeffry’s Creek
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Salem, 1814 to 1978
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1814FoundingSalem is established
- 1815Post officeThe Salem post office opens
- 1825
Born hereNewton Booth is born here - 1838
Born hereJohn Hay is born here - 1844
Born hereJohn Pickler is born here - 1863
In the archiveMorgan's raid into Indiana - 20th century
- 1900BuiltFirst Baptist Church is built
- 1950
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1976
Born hereErin Houchin is born here - 1978
In the archiveChristopher Harrison
By decade
Salem, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1860s1 item
1970s1 item
1980s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your albumToday15 recent
2021Popcorn Harvest (20210930-NRCS-BJOC-001)
2020Salem High School
2012Target practice, Southern Indiana style
2012Cabin at Beck's Mill
2012Beck's Mill 3
2012Beck's Mill 2
2012Beck's Mill 1
2007Salem, Indiana - Riley's Place sign
2007Salem, Indiana - Riley's Place 2
2007Salem, Indiana - Riley's Place 1
2006Salem IN Jail
2006Salem IN First Baptist Church
2006Hay Depot Museum panorama
2006Hay Center festival
2006Hay Center CabinOn the map
Salem on the map, 1950 to 1989
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Salem. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1950Salem sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Salem.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewMorgan's raid into Indiana, 1863
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Salem’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Salem, census by census
Grew from 1,223 people in 1850 to 6,371 in 2020, 5 times over.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Salem’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →17 famous people were born in Salem
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Old corners
Salem’s post office has been open since 1815.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Fair AcresMartin HeightsMcCol Place
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Salem’s history
What year was Salem founded?
In 1814, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Salem’s post office opened in 1815, and the census of 1850 counted 1,223 people here.
How does Salem rank for history?
Salem is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #92 of 593 in Indiana. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Salem?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Hay-Morrison House (listed 1971, the first), and 1 historic district, the Salem Downtown Historic District, with 253 contributing buildings. 257 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Salem?
24% of Salem’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1967.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.