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History · Salem

Salem’s post office opened in 1806, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1984 on and the census since 1830.

1806first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

How Salem began, and where its name came from

When was Salem founded?

1806

The Salem post office opened in 1806, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 281 in 18302020 census: 722220 years

How did Salem get its name?

The city is believed to have been settled c. 1800 by immigrants from Salem, North Carolina, who named their new community after their former home.

Founding year: the first Salem post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

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 history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Salem are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1830 and 1870, then grew more than tenfold.Deep rootsA post office since 1806: 220 years of Salem.
★ What stands out · 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
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Salem, census by census

02004006008001850190019502000281 in 1830Low: 50

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1830 and 1870, then grew more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1830–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Salem’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Salem, 1806 to 1984

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1806Post officeThe Salem post office opens
  3. 1810Born hereJames Henry Dickey Henderson is born here
  4. 1835Born hereGiven Campbell is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1945Born hereC. Pat Taylor is born here
  7. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 833
  8. 1984On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Salem came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Salem.

Read it all →

The city is believed to have been settled c. 1800 by immigrants from Salem, North Carolina, who named their new community after their former home. It replaced Centerville as Livingston County's seat in 1809, but it was replaced in turn by Smithland in 1842, after the removal of Crittenden County left it more centrally located.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Salem, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Main in downtown2016Main in downtownLivingston Hospital in2016Livingston Hospital inKYMap-doton-Salem2004KYMap-doton-Salem
On the map

Salem on the map in 1984

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Salem.

Salem on the 1984 USGS map1984Paducah sheet · 1:100,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Salem.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Salem

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
James Henry Dickey HendersonAmerican politician · b. 1810
C. Pat TaylorAmerican university president · b. 1945
Given CampbellConfederate Army officer and lawyer · b. 1835

Questions about Salem’s history

What year was Salem founded?

The Salem post office opened in 1806, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.