West Salem is a village in Edwards County, Illinois, United States. The population was 786 at the 2020 census, down from 897 at the 2010 census.

thumb|right|West Salem Village Hall

History

The West Salem area was settled in the 1830s and early 1840s by Moravians primarily from Salem, North Carolina, and Hope, Indiana. Among the early settlers were Adam Hedrick and Peter Hinkle.

From 1841 to 1846 the new Moravian settlers were working with the headquarters of the southern province of the Moravian Church in Salem (Old Salem), North Carolina, in establishing a congregation. William Eberman, the Moravian pastor at Hope, Indiana, was sent to visit and preach for them in the fall of 1841. Many other settlers followed, until by 1843, more than 80 families lived within a radius of what was to become West Salem, most of them Moravians. But in 1843, it was Martin Hauser, a Moravian home missionary also from Hope, Indiana, who would be instrumental not only in starting a Moravian Church, but also in helping to establish the town. On Saturday, May 25, 1844, a meeting was held in Peter Hinkle's barn, where heads of 15 families came forward and signed the Brotherly Agreement and Constitution that formed the new Moravian congregation. On his way home to Hope, in 1845, Hauser stopped at the federal land Office in Palestine, Illinois, to buy, in the name of the church, of land on which West Salem is presently located. He was acting as attorney-in-fact for Rev. Charles Kluge, President of the Synod of the Southern Provincial Conference of the Moravian Church of North America.

In the years that followed, the new community of West Salem began to thrive but also to experience challenges as well. In 1849, more than 60 immigrants from Germany arrived, hoping to build homes and gravitating towards the Moravian Church. They were warmly received, but before long trouble developed between the Germans and the original English-speaking settlers. Language differences caused part of the difficulty, but the old German ideas and customs added to it. The congregations separated into "divisions", one English and one German, each with its own official board and its own pastor, but sharing the use of the church building and cemetery. After nine years of this arrangement, they became two separate congregations on February 7, 1858. The Germans retained the old church, and the English built a new church on the south side of the public square. This building was dedicated on August 14, 1859. The English retained the old cemetery, while the Germans laid out a cemetery adjacent to it. On April 10, 1892, the German congregation dedicated a new building, the present Moravian Church. Eventually the German American group began using the English language and gradually came to accept American ways. On June 13, 1925, the two congregations were reunited. The two cemeteries, which were gradually growing together, also were united at that time.

The first recorded organized board meeting of the village of West Salem took place on August 24, 1914. Those taking office were President Charles Pixley and Trustees James Fry, Leona Voigt, Dow Harrison, Arthur Clodfelter, E. Greathouse, and Charles Couch. Stuart Walser was clerk. Records in Village Hall do not show how these persons became the first officers, but they do not show an election of April 1915. At that time, those elected drew lots for one- or two-year terms. At the August 1914 meeting an attorney, John A. McNeil, was hired for $50 to draft a complete set of ordinances. These ordinances set boundaries and territories, set the fiscal year and meeting times, approve a corporate seal, set rules for committees and village officers, street labor, concerning peace, special elections, tax levies, annual appropriations, gaming, local improvements, establishing a prison, fines, traffic laws, etc. Thirty-one ordinances were approved by the end of 1915.

On April 18, 2008, at 09:36:56 UTC (04:36:56 Central) a moderate earthquake of 5.2 magnitude was centered near the village. It was felt across southern Illinois, central Indiana and eastern portions of Missouri including St. Louis, away.

On November 20, 2012, a magnitude 3.6 earthquake shook the village and was felt in Evansville, Indiana.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census

As early as the 1850s a cooper's shop was in operation to supply barrels for packing fruits. A three-story frame building was built by Frederick Luther in 1878. It was used as a flour mill and was operated by a stationary steam engine. A saw mill was also operated in conjunction with the mill. In later years the Mallison Brothers also operated a flour mill and grain elevator.

In the 1950s, the West Salem Industrial Foundation, which later became known as the West Salem Development Association, began a drive to attract new industry to the West Salem-Bone Gap area. A sum of $12,000 was reached initially. The plan was to pay $10,000 to an agency to find a tenant for an as yet unbuilt industrial building. Howard Gaither, Arthur McDowell, and John Beehn were instrumental in the process of seeking a manufacturing business for the community. Late in 1954 an oral agreement was reached with the firm Potter and Brumfield. Under it Gaither, McDowell, and Beehn would invest cash and Harry Clemmons would invest his machinery (he owned Kleen Pak Manufacturing) in a new company known as Kleen-Pak Corporation. Howard Gaither, one of the founding fathers of Kleen-Pak/Champion, served as company president from 1955 to 1981 and Harry Clemmons served as vice president before selling his stake in the company.

Education

The first school house located within the limits of West Salem was a frame building about , erected in 1850-51 and taught by Martin Hauser. On November 8, 1853, Stephen Gunn sold a tract four rods (20.1 m) square (an area of 0.10 acre) out of Lot 43 lying just across the street south of the present site to the trustees for school purposes for $2.00. A two-story four-room brick building was erected on the present site in 1880 at a cost of about $4,000. This building was later enlarged by the addition of four more rooms. The district was greatly enlarged in 1947 by the annexation of Hedrick, Gates, Burton, and Armstrong schools. A modern addition was erected in 1952 at a cost of $135,000. The old building was razed and the new part was completed in 1960 at a cost of $119,000. Kindergarten was added in 1951–52.

West Salem is currently part of Edwards County Community School District #1.

References

Further reading

  • Charles Boewe, The Town on the Square: Portrait of a Vanished World (Baltimore: PublishAmerica, 2008)
  • Historic West Salem Moravian Cemetery
  • Edwards County Community Unit School District #1- West Salem School