Salem is a city in Henry County,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, United States. The population was 394 at the time of the 2020 census.

History

Salem was settled originally by

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

with the intent that it be a community of Friends. In 1835 Aaron Street, while wending his way westward, came upon an uninhabited spot and declared "Now have mine eyes beheld a country teeming with every good thing…Hither will I come with my flocks and my herds, with my children and my children's children, and our city shall be called Salem, for thus was the city of our fathers, even near unto the seacoast." Independently another Quaker, Isaac Pigeon, who may have visited the spot before Street, brought his family to the area. They became the first citizens of Salem, and with Peter Boyer, began to recruit other Quakers to migrate westward to join them. As early as 1837, Friends meetings were held in private homes, and after the village was laid out in 1839 by Aaron Street Jr., and Peter Boyer, a meeting house was built. From the early years members of other Christian denominations settled in Salem, so it was never an exclusively Quaker community. Being only twenty miles from the Missouri border, Salem became an important depot on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

. A prominent member of the

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

was Henderson Lewelling. His house on West Main St. is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as an Underground Railroad station. The Friends, however, had a dispute over the issue of abolition. Agreed in their opposition to slavery, they disagreed on actively helping slaves escape. In 1846, 50 members of the community, including Lewelling, were disfellowshiped. In 1847, the Lewelling family traveled by covered wagon along the Oregon Trail along with a special covered wagon that had been designed to transport more than 700 young fruit and nut trees, apples, pears, peaches, cherries, quince, walnut, and hickory. The surviving trees became the parent stock of all of the early orchards in the Pacific Northwest. The Society of Friends also established a college in Salem. Whittier College, unrelated to the college of the same name in California, existed from 1868 to 1910.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2020, there were 394 people, 176 households, and 113 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 629.6 inhabitants per square mile (243.1/km²). There were 187 housing units at an average density of 298.8 per square mile (115.4/km²). The

racial Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...

makeup of the city was 92.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.3% Black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.0%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 2.3% from other races and 3.6% from two or more races.

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...

persons of any race comprised 2.8% of the population. Of the 176 households, 25.0% of which had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 11.9% were cohabitating couples, 25.6% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present and 15.9% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. 35.8% of all households were non-families. 26.7% of all households were made up of individuals, 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years old or older. The median age in the city was 44.5 years. 20.3% of the residents were under the age of 20; 4.8% were between the ages of 20 and 24; 25.1% were from 25 and 44; 27.2% were from 45 and 64; and 22.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.7% male and 51.3% female.

2010 census

As of the

of 2010, there were 383 people, 176 households, and 105 families living in the city. The

was . There were 196 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.1%

, 0.5%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.3% Native American, 0.8% Asian, and 1.3% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.6% of the population. There were 176 households, of which 23.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were

living together, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 40.3% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.80. The median age in the city was 44.6 years. 21.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.5% were from 25 to 44; 29.7% were from 45 to 64; and 19.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 44.1% male and 55.9% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 464 people, 202 households, and 124 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 213 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.41%

, 0.22% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.22% from other races, and 1.72% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.65% of the population. Lewelling Salem IA

There were 202 households, out of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.5% were

living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.6% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.98. In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.7% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 19.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $31,500, and the median income for a family was $42,500. Males had a median income of $30,238 versus $22,143 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $18,585. About 3.7% of families and 3.2% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 3.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Mount Pleasant Community School District operates local area public schools. Salem Elementary School is within Salem. The district's secondary schools are Mount Pleasant Community Middle School and Mount Pleasant Community High School.

Notable people

Grenville Beardsley Grenville Beardsley II (January 12, 1898 – June 3, 1960) was Attorney General of Illinois from 1959 to 1960. Early life and education Beardsley was born in Salem, Iowa, the son of Frank Grenville Beardsley, Ph.D, a Congregationalist minis ...

, Illinois Attorney General, was born in Salem. * Frank E. Garretson, Brigadier general, U.S. Marine Corps; born in Salem. * Lorenzo D. Lewelling,

Governor of Kansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

; born in Salem. * Thomas Poulter,

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

explorer and

geophysical Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...

scientist. *

William Savage William Savage (1720 – 27 July 1789) was an English composer, organist, and singer of the 18th century. He sang as a boy treble and alto, a countertenor, and as a bass. He is best remembered for his association with the composer George Frid ...

, ornithologist and painter

References

{{authority control Cities in Iowa Cities in Henry County, Iowa 1835 establishments in Michigan Territory Populated places established in 1835

History

Geography

Demographics

2020 census

2010 census

2000 census

Education

Notable people

See also

References