BlockBefore

Salem, Alabama

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1907 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Smiths Station census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36874. The Survey maps it on the Bleecker quadrangle.

Salem within Lee County

On record in Salem

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 14 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

72 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 72 fires within 5 miles of Salem between 1994 and 2020, burning about 1,099 acres in total. None started naturally. 20 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning25
Arson/incendiarism20
Missing data/not specified/undetermined14
Equipment and vehicle use7
Recreation and ceremony4
Misuse of fire by a minor2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
29 September 2019Arson/incendiarism85 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190929-8
28 September 2001Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 2001Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 2001Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
2 September 2011Debris and open burning10 acresAlabama Forestry Commission424 LEE ROAD 201, AL
14 September 1998Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
27 August 1996Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
22 August 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lee County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Salem: 1 plant, 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Hearn MineClayProducer
Salem PitClayPlant

Every working recorded in Lee County

Storms near this place

17 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Salem in 17 storm reports between 1995 and 2026: 7 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 2 funnel cloud, 1 tornado. The reports record 3 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
February 2009Tornado (EF2)Salem3 hurt, $1,100,000The tornado touched down southwest of the community of Salem. It then moved just north of due east, crossing US-280 and several smaller county roads, before lifting at CR-379. Winds estimated at 125-130 mph destroyed 6 mobile homes and 4 site built homes, badly damaged 8 homes, and caused minor damage to 9 others. Two area businesses were destroyed, one other received minor damage, and one school building was damaged. Hundreds of trees were snapped off and uprooted, and one 18-wheeler was overturned. There were three minor injuries reported, only one that required hospitalization.
March 1996HailSalem$12,000no account filed
October 2004Thunderstorm WindSalem$3,000no account filed
October 2011Thunderstorm WindSalem$2,000Trees and powerlines were blown down near the Salem area.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindSalem$2,000Several trees were reported across a road near Salem in the eastern part of Lee County.
January 2026Thunderstorm WindSalem-Trees and powerlines were downed in the Salem community.
March 2025Thunderstorm WindSalem-Several trees were downed in the Salem area, including along Highway 280.
March 2025HailSalem-Up to 1.5-inch hail was reported at Wacoochee Elementary School.
May 2020Thunderstorm WindSalem-Several trees uprooted and power lines downed along Lee Road 252.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindSalem-Several trees uprooted near the intersection of County Road 183 and Highway 280.
September 2009Flash FloodSalem-Water was flowing over the road at the intersection of US-280 and Lee Road 175, near the Salem community.
October 2004Funnel CloudSalem-A funnel cloud was reported just east of Mechanicsville near Lake Harding on the Chattahootchee River.
June 2002HailSalem-Quarter size hail was reported in and around Salem.
February 2000HailSalem-Dime size hail fell in Salem.
April 2017HailSalem-no account filed
August 2010HailSalem-no account filed
October 2004Funnel CloudSalem-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lee County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Shotwell3.0 miles14
Spring Villa3.9 miles13
Bleecker4.1 miles14
Meadows Mill4.7 miles13
Powledge4.9 miles13
Griffen Mill5.1 miles13
Prince Crossroads5.3 miles14
Meadows Crossroads5.3 miles13

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on SalemAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3321777The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 126233. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.