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History · Salem Township

24% of Salem Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 5 old photos and papers and maps from 1960 on.

0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Salem Township’s archive · credits on each photo
The story so far

Salem Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Salem Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Salem Township is one of the eighteen townships of Monroe County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 831, including 280 people in the village of Clarington.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,001 to 831 (-17%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Salem Township, 1884 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Oak post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1905Post officeThe Oak post office closes
  5. 1908In the archiveShrubbery
  6. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.

1900s5 items
Shrubbery1908ShrubberyShrubbery1908ShrubberyLincoln 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, 1908Lincoln Ave. "C," Salem, O., May 1, 19081908Lincoln Ave. "C," 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
Today2 recent
South of Clarington on State Route 72015South of Clarington on State Route 7Map of Monroe County Ohio Highlighting Salem Township2015Map of Monroe County Ohio Highlighting Salem TownshipMap
On the map

Salem Township on the map, 1960 to 1994

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 1960 USGS mapSalem Township on the 1972 USGS mapSalem Township on the 1994 USGS map1960Cameron sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

Shrubbery
Retake this viewShrubbery, 1908

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
Famous people

Famous people close to Salem Township

Nobody well known was born in Salem Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Brad PaisleyAmerican country musician · b. 1972
Shelley Moore CapitoUnited States Senator from West Virginia · b. 1953
John MurthaAmerican politician from the U.S. state of Penn… · b. 1932
F
Frank De VolAmerican composer and arranger · b. 1911
G
George BrettMajor League Baseball third baseman · b. 1953
D
Davis GrubbNovelist, short story writer · b. 1919
Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Oak, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Oak
Gone or out of use
Oak Post Officepost office
11cemeteries and burying grounds inside Salem Township
CainCaseMount Sinai MethodistOld CaseOllumRutterSaint James LutheranSalemSykesZesigerZion Methodist

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

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 viewShrubbery: 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.

ClaringtonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSwitzerland Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAdams TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOhio Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGreen TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Salem Township’s history

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 (2), the Library of Congress (5), 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.