Salem, Utah
21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the Spanish Fork-Payson census division. It lies in ZIP code area 84653. The Survey maps it on the Spanish Fork quadrangle. 9,298 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,610 feet above sea level.
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
Ira W. Gardner Houselisted 1977
Population over time
2 figuresSalem grew from 6,423 to 9,298 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 6,423 | |
| 2020 | 9,298 | +2,875 (+45%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 21 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.
- 1885 USGS Salt Lake quadrangle1:250000, 7 printings
- 1948 USGS Spanish Fork quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1949 USGS Provo quadrangle1:62500
- 1950 USGS Spanish Fork quadrangle1:24000
- 1954 USGS Salt Lake City quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Salt Lake City quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Salt Lake City quadrangle1:250000
- 1986 USGS Provo quadrangle1:100000
- 1994 USGS Spanish Fork quadrangle1:24000
- 1998 USGS Spanish Fork quadrangle1:24000
What the histories say of this town
1,222 words1 chapter about Salem from the published histories of the county, public domain and reproduced complete.
| Chapter | From | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Utah County: a Graphic Account of Its Foundings, Its Wonderful Growth | Utah County: a Graphic Account of Its Foundings, Its Wonderful Growth and Its Splendid Promise for the Future : Also a Descriptive Review of Its Resources, Attractions, Industries, Leading Business Houses and Institutions, with Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Its Pioneers and Early Settlers (1897) | 1,222 words |
Fires near this place
248 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 248 fires within 5 miles of Salem between 1992 and 2020, burning about 8,257 acres in total. 6 started naturally. 9 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 161 |
| Debris and open burning | 41 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 10 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 9 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 8 |
| Natural | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Fireworks | 3 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Other causes | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | 8660 S. |
| 8 September 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | HYDRO |
| 7 September 2009 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | POWERHOUSE RD. |
| 7 September 2002 | Other causes | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | OUT HOUSE FIRE |
| 6 September 2012 | Natural | under an acre | Salt Lake Field Office | P MOUNTAIN |
| 6 September 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | SALEM CANAL FIRE |
| 5 September 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | ACE |
| 29 September 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | ILLEGAL BURN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 47 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 47 workings within 5 miles of Salem: 23 producers, 18 past producers, 4 occurrences, 1 prospect. 23 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Gold, Silver, Lead, Zinc. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castilla Hot Springs | Geothermal | Unknown | ||
| Clay Canyon Deposit | Gemstone | Producer | ||
| Dream Mine | Gold, Silver | Prospect | ||
| El Dorado Mine | Silver, Zinc, Lead | Past Producer | Underground | |
| Eldorado No. 1 & Eldorado No. 2 Group | Silver, Lead, Zinc | Occurrence | 1959 | |
| Elsie Jane Drift | Lead, Zinc, Silver | Past Producer | Galena | |
| Milkmaid | Silver, Lead, Gold | Past Producer | Replacement | |
| Silver Hill Property | Manganese | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Limestone, General | Producer | ||
| Us Ferto Corp | Phosphorus-Phosphates | Producer |
Storms near this place
5 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Salem in 5 storm reports between 2015 and 2023: 4 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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 2017 | Flash Flood | Salem | $125,000 | Heavy rain caused widespread street and residential flooding in Salem, with 139 homes damaged. This damaged varied widely; most homes experienced only minor yard or basement flooding, while 3-5 homes experienced significant basement damage. One person sustained a major leg injury that required stitches, after a window was blown out and glass cut her leg. At least one other person sustained minor injuries related to the flooding. |
| August 2015 | Flash Flood | Salem | $20,000 | A thunderstorm dropped very heavy rainfall near Woodland Hills and, combined with saturated soil from large amounts of rain the previous day, produced a large mudslide across the area. The mud damaged the basement of one home and also invaded five other properties, with extensive mud clean-up necessary on private driveways and along Skylake Drive. A total of 14 homes were evacuated as a precaution immediately following the mudslide. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Salem | $7,500 | Public reports indicated multiple power poles down and multiple trees uprooted in the Salem area. |
| July 2021 | Flash Flood | Salem | - | A debris flow was reported into the Elk Ridge area. |
| August 2019 | Flash Flood | Salem | - | Heavy rain over the Bald Mountain Fire burn scar produced significant debris flows in Loafer Canyon and Payson Canyon, resulting in evacuations. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis | 2.8 miles | 21 | |
| Elk Ridge | 2.9 miles | 21 | |
| Woodland Hills | 2.9 miles | 21 | |
| Payson | 3.2 miles | 21 | |
| Leland | 3.3 miles | 21 | |
| Benjamin | 4.4 miles | 21 | |
| Spanish Fork | 4.4 miles | 21 | |
| Sutro | 4.9 miles | 22 |
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 Q483292 | 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 1445262. 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.









