Salem is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Cherokee County, located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. According to the

Handbook of Texas The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

, the community had a population of 20 in 2000. It is located within the Tyler-Jacksonville combined statistical area.

History

The area in what is known as Salem today may have been settled sometime after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. A local church acted as the community center. The church, a cemetery, and several scattered houses were located here in the mid-1930s. Most residents left after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but Salem still had a cemetery and a few scattered houses in the 1990s. Joseph T. Cook is buried in the community's cemetery. It had 20 residents in 2000.

Geography

Salem is located on Farm to Market Road 241, south of

Rusk A rusk is a hard, dry Biscuit#Biscuits in British usage, biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a teether for babies. In some cultures, rusk is made of cake rather than bread: this is sometimes referred to as cake rusk. In the ...

, in south-central Cherokee County.

Education

Salem had its own school in 1897 and had 31 students enrolled. It was still operational in the mid-1930s. Today, the community is served by the

Rusk Independent School District Rusk Independent School District is a public school district based in Rusk, Texas, United States. The district serves the cities of Rusk, Gallatin, and Reklaw, rural areas in central Cherokee County (including Maydelle) and a small portion ...

Notes

Unincorporated communities in Cherokee County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas {{CherokeeCountyTX-geo-stub