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.
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 11 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.
- 1943 USGS Cushing quadrangle1:62500
- 1945 USGS Cushing quadrangle1:62500
- 1953 USGS Palestine quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Palestine quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS New Salem quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Palestine quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1986 USGS Nacogdoches quadrangle1:100000
- 1992 USGS Nacogdoches quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
136 since 1992Regional 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 burning | 75 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 10 |
| Natural | 8 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 8 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 5 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Fireworks | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 14 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | HENDERSON - 527 |
| 7 September 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 6.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | HENDERSON - 486 |
| 5 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 4 September 2010 | Natural | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | 026-10 |
| 26 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | 6228 |
| 25 September 2011 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | HENDERSON - 576 |
| 24 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | RITCHEY MULHOLLE |
| 23 September 2008 | Smoking | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
13 since 2003Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2003 | Tornado (F3) | New Salem | $9,000,000 | A 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 2017 | Tornado (EF2) | New Salem | $125,000 | An 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 2026 | Hail | New Salem | - | Ping pong ball size hail reported in the Reklaw community. |
| March 2025 | Hail | New Salem | - | Quarter size hail reported at the New Salem Volunteer Fire Department just east of Lake Striker. |
| March 2025 | Hail | New Salem | - | Hen egg size hail reported just south of Lake Striker. |
| March 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | New Salem | - | Power lines downed on County Road 4256 near Lake Striker, resulting in a fire. |
| September 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | New Salem | - | A roof was ripped off of a house on County Road 4256 on the Rusk County side of Lake Striker. |
| September 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | New 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 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | New Salem | - | A small radio tower was blown down and scattered tree damage occurred east of Lake Striker and along FM 839. |
| March 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | New Salem | - | Multiple trees were downed. A roof was removed from a pier and the pier was destroyed at the Lake Striker Resort. |
| March 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | New Salem | - | A tree was downed on a home east of Lake Striker in the New Salem community. |
| May 2017 | Hail | New Salem | - | Quarter size hail fell at the Lake Striker RV Park Restaurant and Marina. |
| April 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | New Salem | - | A tree was downed along County Road 4248 northeast of Reklaw, Texas. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairview | 2.5 miles | 11 | |
| Anadarko | 4.5 miles | 11 | |
| Freeneytown | 4.9 miles | 11 | |
| McKnight | 5.2 miles | 13 | |
| Pleasant Grove | 5.5 miles | 13 | |
| Reklaw | 5.6 miles | 11 | |
| Glenfawn | 5.8 miles | 11 | |
| Pone | 7.8 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 New Salem | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q85788564 | 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 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.







