1980
1980The story
Read it all →How Salem came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Salem.
Gilboa Methodist Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Salem
1 of Salem’s places is on the National Register
More historic than 35% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Salem was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: 12 old photos and papers and maps from 1956 on.
1on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
4famous people
Quick answers
About Salem’s history
How historic is Salem?
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What drives the grade ↓More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Salem’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Salem is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Salem’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19405.7% of homes (±6.2) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 4.2 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 35%
NewerOlder
North Carolina towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical North Carolina town has 12.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Salem’s 4.2 sits near the middle of its state (46% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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.
★ What stands out · By decade
Salem, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1930s9 items
1935Winston Salem, North Carolina
1935Untitled photo, possibly related to: Winston Salem, N…
1935Untitled photo, possibly related to: Winston Salem, N…
1935Untitled photo, possibly related to: Winston Salem, N…
1935Untitled photo, possibly related to: Winston Salem, N…
1935Untitled photo, possibly related to: Negro houses, Wi…
1935Untitled photo, possibly related to: Negro houses, Wi…
1936Negro houses, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
1936Negro houses, Winston-Salem, North Carolina1940s–1970snothing 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 album1980s3 items
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 albumTimeline
Salem, 1839 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1839
Born hereAlfred Horatio Belo is born here - 1848Born hereSarah Huston is born here
- 1855
Born hereFrancis Henry Fries is born here - 1866
Born hereEmil Alexander de Schweinitz is born here - 1879
BuiltGilboa Methodist Church is built - 1898Post officeThe Burkmont post office opens
- 20th century
- 1903Post officeThe Burkmont post office closes
- 1935In the archiveWinston Salem, North Carolina
- 1956
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1980
In the archiveKitchen stove at Old Salem, a Moravian historic community in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
On the map
Salem on the map, 1956 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Salem. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1956Morganton South 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 viewWinston Salem, North Carolina, 1935
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 · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in Salem
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Gilboa Methodist Church
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →4 famous people were born in Salem
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and old corners
Another post office, Burkmont, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
BurkemontPumpkin Center
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Salem’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Salem’s history
How does Salem rank for history?
Salem is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. 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?
One place: the Gilboa Methodist Church (listed 1984).
How old are the homes in Salem?
6% of Salem’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 the Library of Congress (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.