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New Salem, Texas

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1943 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Laneville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 75654. It stands on Compton Branch. The Survey maps it on the New Salem quadrangle.

New Salem within Rusk County

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 11 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

136 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 136 fires within 5 miles of New Salem between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,006 acres in total. 8 started naturally. 8 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 burning75
Missing data/not specified/undetermined22
Equipment and vehicle use10
Natural8
Arson/incendiarism8
Power generation/transmission/distribution5
Smoking4
Recreation and ceremony3
Fireworks1

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
8 September 2011Equipment and vehicle use14 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceHENDERSON - 527
7 September 2000Arson/incendiarism6.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceHENDERSON - 486
5 September 1999Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
4 September 2010Natural2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service026-10
26 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service6228
25 September 2011Smoking1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceHENDERSON - 576
24 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceRITCHEY MULHOLLE
23 September 2008Smokingunder an acreTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Rusk County

Storms near this place

13 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names New Salem in 13 storm reports between 2003 and 2026: 7 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 2 tornado. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2003Tornado (F3)New Salem$9,000,000A supercell thunderstorm moved northeast across Rusk County. Numerous wood frame and mobile homes were damaged with several homes totally destroyed. A few barns were damaged as well. One power substation was severely damaged. Numerous large Pine, Oak, and Pecan trees were twisted, broken and uprooted. This tornado moved into Rusk County from Cherokee County, TX.
December 2017Tornado (EF2)New Salem$125,000An EF-2 tornado was maximum estimated winds near 115 mph touched down across a heavily wooded areas just south of FM 4251 northeast of Reklaw, where it snapped and uprooted numerous trees. This tornado destroyed a nearby cabin adjacent to a pond where it was lifted off its pier and beam foundation and moved it about 15 yards into a heavily wooded area. A fiberglass fishing boat was lofted and unable to be found. The tornado continued east across a heavily wooded area before crossing County Road 4234 where numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. This tornado lifted after crossing County Road 4232 southwest of the Laneville community.
March 2026HailNew Salem-Ping pong ball size hail reported in the Reklaw community.
March 2025HailNew Salem-Quarter size hail reported at the New Salem Volunteer Fire Department just east of Lake Striker.
March 2025HailNew Salem-Hen egg size hail reported just south of Lake Striker.
March 2023Thunderstorm WindNew Salem-Power lines downed on County Road 4256 near Lake Striker, resulting in a fire.
September 2023Thunderstorm WindNew Salem-A roof was ripped off of a house on County Road 4256 on the Rusk County side of Lake Striker.
September 2023Thunderstorm WindNew Salem-A 70 mph wind gust was recorded at a Texas Water Development Board Mesonet station on the Rusk County side of Lake Striker.
March 2020Thunderstorm WindNew Salem-A small radio tower was blown down and scattered tree damage occurred east of Lake Striker and along FM 839.
March 2020Thunderstorm WindNew Salem-Multiple trees were downed. A roof was removed from a pier and the pier was destroyed at the Lake Striker Resort.
March 2020Thunderstorm WindNew Salem-A tree was downed on a home east of Lake Striker in the New Salem community.
May 2017HailNew Salem-Quarter size hail fell at the Lake Striker RV Park Restaurant and Marina.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindNew Salem-A tree was downed along County Road 4248 northeast of Reklaw, Texas.

Every storm recorded in Rusk 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
Fairview2.5 miles11
Anadarko4.5 miles11
Freeneytown4.9 miles11
McKnight5.2 miles13
Pleasant Grove5.5 miles13
Reklaw5.6 miles11
Glenfawn5.8 miles11
Pone7.8 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 New SalemAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q85788564The 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 1378751. 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.

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.