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–Not graded
History · Salem

34% of Salem’s homes were built before 1940

0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

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.
★ 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
The story so far

Salem, in brief

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

Salem is a town in Pierce County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 475 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Ono is also located partially in the town.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 510 to 475 (-7%).

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

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
Famous people

Famous people close to Salem

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

See all →
Mary Pat GleasonAmerican actress · b. 1950
R
Randy BreuerAmerican basketball player · b. 1960
Taylor HeiseAmerican ice hockey player · b. 2000
Frank Hinman WaskeyAmerican politician · b. 1875
Lucius Roy HolbrookUnited States Army general · b. 1875
M
Mark McKenzieAmerican film composer · b. 1957
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Carpenter SchoolschoolDon Borst QuarrymineLincoln SchoolschoolSalem School Number 2school
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Salem
Ono MethodistSalem Lutheran

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

HartlandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMaiden RockIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUnionIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEl PasoIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Salem’s history

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.