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Salem, Illinois

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1937 and the latest in 1981. It stands in Erin Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61048. The Survey maps it on the Pearl City quadrangle.

Salem within Stephenson County

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 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.

In the county-history sources

11,150 words on this township

The History of Stephenson County, Illinois : Containing ... Biographical Sketches ... War Record ... Statistics ... Portraits of Early Settlers ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois, &c. .., published 1880; History of Stephenson County, Illinois : a Record of Its Settlement, Organization, and Three-quarters of a Century of Progress, published 1910 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.

The chapter on Erin Township covers the township.

Read the chapter on Erin Township - 11,150 words.

Fires near this place

9 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Salem between 2004 and 2017, burning about 102 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was 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 burning3
Recreation and ceremony3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Smoking1
Arson/incendiarism1

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
14 May 2013Debris and open burning4.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources13-0000038
7 April 2004Recreation and ceremony20 acresIllinois State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
5 April 2004Recreation and ceremony12 acresIllinois State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
17 April 2008Debris and open burningunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources8010
10 April 2004Arson/incendiarism60 acresIllinois State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
1 April 2010Smokingunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources1024
22 March 2004Recreation and ceremony5.0 acresIllinois State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
1 December 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources17-0000125

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Stephenson County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 15 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 15 workings within 5 miles of Salem: 11 past producers, 2 producers, 1 occurrence, 1 prospect. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Copper. 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
Erin MoundCopperOccurrence
Erin MoundCopperProspect
FinkbinderStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
H. Homan QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Lobdell QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
R. E. Cox QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Unnamed Limestone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unnamed Limestone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unnamed Limestone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unnamed Limestone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Stephenson 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
Eleroy1.3 miles14
Lena3.3 miles15
Damascus4.3 miles15
Yellow Creek4.9 miles14
Scioto Mills5.9 miles15
Pearl City6.0 miles14
Red Oak6.6 miles13
West Junction6.7 miles15

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 423839. 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.