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.
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
Dr. Andrew D. McLain Office and Drug Storelisted 1983
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 14 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1907 USGS Opelika quadrangle1:125000
- 1909 USGS Opelika quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1955 USGS Phenix City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Phenix City quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Phenix City quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Bleecker quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1981 USGS Opelika quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
72 since 1994Regional 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 burning | 25 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 20 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 September 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 85 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190929-8 |
| 28 September 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 28 September 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 28 September 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 2 September 2011 | Debris and open burning | 10 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 424 LEE ROAD 201, AL |
| 14 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 27 August 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 22 August 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hearn Mine | Clay | Producer | ||
| Salem Pit | Clay | Plant |
Storms near this place
17 since 1995Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2009 | Tornado (EF2) | Salem | 3 hurt, $1,100,000 | The 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 1996 | Hail | Salem | $12,000 | no account filed |
| October 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Salem | $3,000 | no account filed |
| October 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Salem | $2,000 | Trees and powerlines were blown down near the Salem area. |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Salem | $2,000 | Several trees were reported across a road near Salem in the eastern part of Lee County. |
| January 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Salem | - | Trees and powerlines were downed in the Salem community. |
| March 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Salem | - | Several trees were downed in the Salem area, including along Highway 280. |
| March 2025 | Hail | Salem | - | Up to 1.5-inch hail was reported at Wacoochee Elementary School. |
| May 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Salem | - | Several trees uprooted and power lines downed along Lee Road 252. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Salem | - | Several trees uprooted near the intersection of County Road 183 and Highway 280. |
| September 2009 | Flash Flood | Salem | - | Water was flowing over the road at the intersection of US-280 and Lee Road 175, near the Salem community. |
| October 2004 | Funnel Cloud | Salem | - | A funnel cloud was reported just east of Mechanicsville near Lake Harding on the Chattahootchee River. |
| June 2002 | Hail | Salem | - | Quarter size hail was reported in and around Salem. |
| February 2000 | Hail | Salem | - | Dime size hail fell in Salem. |
| April 2017 | Hail | Salem | - | no account filed |
| August 2010 | Hail | Salem | - | no account filed |
| October 2004 | Funnel Cloud | Salem | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shotwell | 3.0 miles | 14 | |
| Spring Villa | 3.9 miles | 13 | |
| Bleecker | 4.1 miles | 14 | |
| Meadows Mill | 4.7 miles | 13 | |
| Powledge | 4.9 miles | 13 | |
| Griffen Mill | 5.1 miles | 13 | |
| Prince Crossroads | 5.3 miles | 14 | |
| Meadows Crossroads | 5.3 miles | 13 |
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 Salem | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3321777 | The 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.






