BlockBefore

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.

Salem within Utah County

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

Population over time

2 figures

Salem 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.

YearPeople Change
20106,423
20209,298+2,875 (+45%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 21 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.

What the histories say of this town

1,222 words

1 chapter about Salem from the published histories of the county, public domain and reproduced complete.

ChapterFrom Length
Utah County: a Graphic Account of Its Foundings, Its Wonderful GrowthUtah 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 1992

Regional 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/undetermined161
Debris and open burning41
Equipment and vehicle use10
Arson/incendiarism9
Misuse of fire by a minor8
Natural6
Recreation and ceremony5
Fireworks3
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Other causes1

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
9 September 2008Debris and open burningunder an acreUtah Division Forestry Fire State Lands8660 S.
8 September 1996Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreUtah Division Forestry Fire State LandsHYDRO
7 September 2009Debris and open burningunder an acreUtah Division Forestry Fire State LandsPOWERHOUSE RD.
7 September 2002Other causesunder an acreUtah Division Forestry Fire State LandsOUT HOUSE FIRE
6 September 2012Naturalunder an acreSalt Lake Field OfficeP MOUNTAIN
6 September 2001Arson/incendiarismunder an acreUtah Division Forestry Fire State LandsSALEM CANAL FIRE
5 September 1994Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreUtah Division Forestry Fire State LandsACE
29 September 1994Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreUtah Division Forestry Fire State LandsILLEGAL BURN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Utah County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 47 shown

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Castilla Hot SpringsGeothermalUnknown
Clay Canyon DepositGemstoneProducer
Dream MineGold, SilverProspect
El Dorado MineSilver, Zinc, LeadPast ProducerUnderground
Eldorado No. 1 & Eldorado No. 2 GroupSilver, Lead, ZincOccurrence1959
Elsie Jane DriftLead, Zinc, SilverPast ProducerGalena
MilkmaidSilver, Lead, GoldPast ProducerReplacement
Silver Hill PropertyManganeseProducer
UnknownLimestone, GeneralProducer
Us Ferto CorpPhosphorus-PhosphatesProducer

Every working recorded in Utah County

Storms near this place

5 since 2015

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2017Flash FloodSalem$125,000Heavy 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 2015Flash FloodSalem$20,000A 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 2023Thunderstorm WindSalem$7,500Public reports indicated multiple power poles down and multiple trees uprooted in the Salem area.
July 2021Flash FloodSalem-A debris flow was reported into the Elk Ridge area.
August 2019Flash FloodSalem-Heavy rain over the Bald Mountain Fire burn scar produced significant debris flows in Loafer Canyon and Payson Canyon, resulting in evacuations.

Every storm recorded in Utah 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
Lewis2.8 miles21
Elk Ridge2.9 miles21
Woodland Hills2.9 miles21
Payson3.2 miles21
Leland3.3 miles21
Benjamin4.4 miles21
Spanish Fork4.4 miles21
Sutro4.9 miles22

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 SalemAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q483292The 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.