Salem, WV

Salem sits in western Harrison County where U.S. Route 50 meets West Virginia Route 23, with the North Bend Rail Trail passing through the city. Its story begins in the summer of 1790, when forty Seventh Day Baptist families from Shrewsbury, New Jersey, settled a place they called New Salem. The settlement’s religious roots remained visible as the Eastern Seventh Day Baptist Association built Salem Academy in 1888. The academy became a college in 1890 and eventually grew into today’s Salem University.

That university still gives Salem a campus presence, with a 100-acre setting, student housing, clubs, and degree programs. The city also carries its older history in a historic district and the Salem College Administration Building, while the rail trail offers a way to move through the surrounding countryside on the old railroad corridor. Route 50 brings through traffic, but Salem’s local rhythm comes from the mix of campus activity, historic buildings, trail users, and the small businesses that serve Harrison County residents. It is a place where a nineteenth-century college story remains part of the daily landscape.