Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
“Salem Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church is a Methodist church complex in Kearney County, Nebraska, southwest of Axtell, Nebraska.”
Wikipedia article Salem Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 7 National Register listings published here for Kearney County · listed in 1982 · category: Building.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 27 fires within 5 miles of Salem Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church between 1999 and 2020, burning about 218 acres in total. None started naturally. None 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 burning | 11 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 10 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 September 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 30 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 21 September 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 13 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 1 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 17 August 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 26 July 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 7 June 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 21 June 2013 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Axtell, the town this property stands in, in 76 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 42 hail, 27 thunderstorm wind, 6 tornado, 1 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | $125,000 | Peak wind gusts were estimated to be around 75 MPH, with one measured gust of 66 MPH from a mesonet station located two miles southwest of Axtell. These wind gusts caused widespread tree damage in Axtell, with several large branches downed and some trees split in two. One portion of a split tree landed on a garage. Another home suffered minor damage as well as fence damage. |
| March 2020 | Hail | Axtell | $125,000 | Hail was mostly pea to nickel sized, with a few quarter size stones, and was 2 inches deep in the yard. |
| July 2024 | Hail | Axtell | $125,000 | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | $100,000 | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Tornado (EF0) | Axtell | $75,000 | A local resident reported damage to an irrigation pivot and soybean field north of Axtell. Subsequent radar review showed a circulation in the same area and time as the report, supporting a tornado. The location of the path was estimated based upon radar and the local resident report. The tornado was rated an EF0 with peak winds estimated to be 80 MPH based upon damage described to the pivot. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | $50,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be between 60 and 70 MPH downed a large tree in town. This tree landed on a home, punching a hole through the bedroom ceiling. The tree also landed on power lines. |
| June 2018 | Hail | Axtell | $50,000 | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Hail | Axtell | $50,000 | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | $35,000 | A wind gust of 79 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located five miles north of Axtell. Reports via social media included large tree limbs downed, a garage severely damaged, and a flipped trampoline. |
| June 2006 | Hail | Axtell | $30,000 | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | $25,000 | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 MPH and were accompanied by dime size hail. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | $25,000 | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Hail | Axtell | $25,000 | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | $20,000 | Winds estimated at 60 mph were accompanied by hail up to the size of quarters, causing minor to significant crop damage across the area. |
| May 2008 | Hail | Axtell | $10,000 | no account filed |
| September 2006 | Hail | Axtell | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | $5,000 | This gust occurred behind the squall line in a pressure minimum. |
| May 1998 | Hail | Axtell | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Axtell | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | Axtell | $4,000 | no account filed |
| August 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | $3,000 | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | $2,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be near 65 MPH resulted in a tree being uprooted. These winds were likely associated with outflow from storms several miles to the south. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Axtell | $2,000 | no account filed |
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | - | A wind gust of 73 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located three miles north-northeast of Hildreth. |
| July 2024 | Tornado (EFU) | Axtell | - | This tornado was a brief touchdown reported by storm chasers and an off-duty NWS employee. No rating nor wind speed was assigned due to the lack of quality damage indicators in the area. The location was based off of video and photos. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Axtell | - | Pea to quarter size hail was reported in Axtell. |
| April 2022 | Hail | Axtell | - | Hail ranging in size from half dollars to tennis balls was reported along and near this path, including golf ball size hail from the NTV television studio located just east of Axtell. |
| April 2022 | Hail | Axtell | - | Facebook photo of hail next to a ruler revealed a giant stone approximately four inches in diameter. |
| April 2022 | Tornado (EFU) | Axtell | - | This tornado briefly touched down between Minden and Hildreth. Location and time was approximated from reports and radar. No damage was reported. |
| May 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | - | A wind gust of 65 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located 3 miles east-northeast of Axtell. |
| December 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | - | A wind gust of 68 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located five miles north of Axtell. |
| May 2021 | Tornado (EF0) | Axtell | - | This landspout appeared to drift west over the course of a few minutes over farmground just south-southeast of the ethanol plant east of Axtell. Damage was minimal. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | - | A wind gust of 63 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located 3 miles east-northeast of Axtell, with wind gusts of at least 60 MPH continuing east into the Minden area. These gusts caused tree damage across the area, with a power line downed across Highway 6 approximately 3 miles west of Minden and a handful of tree limbs, the largest being 8 to 10 inches in diameter, downed in Minden. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | - | Wind gust was measured on a portable anemometer. |
| April 2017 | Hail | Axtell | - | Hail up to 2 inches in diameter was reported along this path. Hail was accompanied by 60 MPH wind gusts. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | - | Measured wind gusts of 62 to 68 mph occurred near the Highway 44 corridor in western Kearney County. |
| June 2013 | Hail | Axtell | - | Wind gusts of 50 mph and heavy rain also occurred. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | - | Wind gusts were estimated between 50 and 60 MPH. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | - | Power pole and power lines blown down in town. Tree damage was also reported. |
| May 2005 | Tornado (F0) | Axtell | - | Storm spotters reported a brief tornado near the county line northwest of Axtell. No damage was reported. |
| July 1994 | Hail | Axtell | - | Thunderstorm winds ripped tin off of a barn. Quarter-size hail also occurred. |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | - | Thunderstorm winds ripped tin off of a barn. Quarter-size hail also occurred. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Axtell | - | no account filed |
| September 2023 | Hail | Axtell | - | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Hail | Axtell | - | no account filed |
| April 2019 | Hail | Axtell | - | no account filed |
| April 2019 | Hail | Axtell | - | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Hail | Axtell | - | no account filed |
| August 2018 | Hail | Axtell | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | - | no account filed |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Axtell | - | no account filed |
| September 2017 | Hail | Axtell | - | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Hail | Axtell | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Hail | Axtell | - | no account filed |
| September 2010 | Hail | Axtell | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Axtell | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Axtell | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Axtell | - | no account filed |
| April 2007 | Heavy Rain | Axtell | - | no account filed |
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Bethphage Mission | 3.9 miles | 2013 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 82003192 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Kearney County | All 7 listed properties in this county. |
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