Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1913 on.
The Salem post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Melas (1880), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Salem is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
South Dakota towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical South Dakota town has 37.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Salem’s 49.3 sits above most of its state (73% of South Dakota towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Salem’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Salem.
Salem was founded in 1880 and named after the postmaster's hometown of Salem, Massachusetts. Salem at one time was called Melas ('Melas' is Salem spelled backwards). This was to prevent confusion with the now non-existent community of Salena, South Dakota.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltHenry Kuhle House is built
In the archiveSalem SD Feb 11 1913 by JR AinsworthBuiltMcCook County Courthouse is built
Born hereKay Schallenkamp is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
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 · +15Salem’s post office has been open since 1880. Another post office, Melas, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Salem post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Salem is more historic than 69% 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.
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the St. Mary's Catholic Church (listed 1985, the first), and 1 historic district, the Downtown Salem Historic District, with 3 contributing buildings. 6 historic buildings in all.
22% of Salem’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 10% for a South Dakota town; the median home was built in 1974.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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