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Downtown Salem, OhioPhoto: TomahawkBRAWL · CC BY-SA 4.0
AHistory
History · Salem Township

Salem Township dates to 1806, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 89% of U.S. towns · #161 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Teegarden-Centennial Covered Bridge. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1840.

1806founded
3on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Salem Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Salem Township began

When was Salem Township founded?

1806

Salem Township dates its founding to 1806 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1840.

First census: 233 in 18402020 census: 5,142220 years

How historic is Salem Township?

A

More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1830.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Salem Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Salem Township is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #161 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Salem Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1806, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194033.4% of homes (±4.7) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register3 listings, 5.9 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 89%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 84%

Ohio towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Ohio town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Salem Township’s 5.9 sits above most of its state (67% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±4.7 points). Two sources give 1806.

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 Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Salem Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19093 editions of the USGS map, 1909 to 1971. Watch Salem Township change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1806: 220 years of Salem Township.Old housesHalf of Salem Township’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Franklin Square
1830–1914
Teegarden
1870–1929
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Breezeway Mobile ManorFranklin SquareGarden City Mobile Home ParkLongs CrossingTeegarden
Gone or out of use
Franklin Square Post Officepost officeTeegarden Post Officepost office
9cemeteries and burying grounds inside Salem Township
EnglishHartHighlandMount CalvaryOakdalePhillipsSaint JacobsSalem TownshipSwitzer

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Salem Township on the map, 1909 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Salem Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Salem Township on the 1909 USGS mapSalem Township on the 1960 USGS mapSalem Township on the 1971 USGS map1909Lisbon sheet · 1:62,500

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

Timeline

Salem Township, 1806 to 1929

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1806
    FoundingSalem Township is established
  3. 1830Post officeThe Franklin Square post office opens
  4. 1870Post officeThe Teegarden post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1907In the archiveHigh school
  7. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1914Post officeThe Franklin Square post office closes
  9. 1929Post officeThe Teegarden post office closes
The story

How Salem Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Salem Township.

Read it all →

Salem was founded in 1806 by Zadok Street, a New Jersey clockmaker; and John Straughan, a Pennsylvanian potter. The city was named after Salem, New Jersey, Street's native community. The name Salem itself is a biblical derivative of Jerusalem in the Middle East, which means "city of peace". The city's early settlers included the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, which the local school district's sports teams honor by referring to themselves collectively as the Salem Quakers. Salem was incorporated in 1830.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Salem Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s6 items
High school1907High schoolPostcardHigh school1907High schoolPostcardShrubbery1908ShrubberyShrubbery1908ShrubberyLincoln Ave. "A," Salem, O., May 1, 19081908Lincoln Ave. "A," Salem, O., May 1, 1908Lincoln Ave. "B," Salem, O., May 1, 19081908Lincoln Ave. "B," Salem, O., May 1, 1908
1910s–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 album
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.

High school
Retake this viewHigh school, 1907

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Salem Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Salem Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
2000
Teegarden-Centennial Covered Bridge
Teegarden-Centennial Covered Bridge
Structures

Architectural styles listings

Covered Bridge1
Teegarden-Centennial Covered BridgeCovered Bridge

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Salem Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,0001850190019502000Peak: 14,186

Between 233 and 14,186 people in every census since 1840.

19 censuses, 1840–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Salem Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHigh school: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Perry Township6 historic placesA+Fairfield Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCenter Township3 historic placesA+Leetonia2 historic placesA−Green TownshipIts storyB−Beaver Township1 historic placeB

Questions about Salem Township’s history

What year was Salem Township founded?

In 1806, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Salem Township’s post office opened in 1830, and the census of 1840 counted 233 people here.

How does Salem Township rank for history?

Salem Township is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #161 of 993 in Ohio. 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 Township?

3 listings: 1 structure.

How old are the homes in Salem Township?

33% of Salem Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1958.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.