2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 28 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1811.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Salem’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Salem is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Salem’s overall grade.
West Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical West Virginia town has 29.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Salem’s 178 sits above most of its state (75% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 29 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1790.
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 (±13.3 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Salem was settled in the summer of 1790 — as "New Salem" — by forty Seventh Day Baptist families from Shrewsbury, New Jersey. Notable settler family names included Lippincott, Maxson, Babcock, Plumer, Davis, and Fitz-Randolph. New Salem was formally chartered and made a town by legislative enactment of the Virginia Assembly on December 19, 1794, on land owned by Samuel Fitz Randolph. John Patterson, John Davis, Samuel Lippincott, James Davis, Zebulon Maxon, Benjamin Thorp, Thomas Clayton, William Davis, Jacob Davis, George Jackson and John Haymond were appointed its first trustees.
Passages that mention Salem, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Harrison County, West Virginia1910 · page 343Read the page →
Read the text
the State, and on February 25, 1905, the Legislature passed an act entitled : "An Act to amend and re-enact and reduce into one act the several acts, provisions, orders and decrees incorporating the tOMTi of Salem, in the County of Harrison and State of West Virginia, defining the powers thereof, and describing the limits of said town, and incorporating the city of Salem in said Harrison County."
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Harrison County, West Virginia1910 · page 293Read the page →
Read the text
The Salem Academy was incorporated under the laws of West Virginia on December 28, 1888, with the usual privilege of corporations, to be located in the town of Salem. The charter sets forth that the Institution is to be subject to the regulations of the Seventh Day Baptist Educational Society, for the purpose of teachng all of the various branches of learning, comprising a thorough Academic and Collegiate course.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Salem, 1790 to 1930
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Salem’s history
What year was Salem founded?
In 1790, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Salem’s post office opened in 1811, and the census of 1880 counted 248 people here.
How does Salem rank for history?
Salem is more historic than 94% 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?
Two places: the Salem Historic District (listed 1980) and the Salem College Administration Building (1989).
How old are the homes in Salem?
41% of Salem’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.3 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1956.
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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1899
2006
2004
