History of Salem, SD As studied by McCook Central 3 rd Grade Students

Introduction Salem was named by Oliver S.Pender the first storekeeper and postmaster of Salem, Massachusetts. For a while Salem was called Melas (Salem spelled backward). The mail was getting mixed up because there was a town named Salena and it sounded the same. When Salena died Salem got back it’s name. Salem is a Hebrew word meaning peace. We have decided to put the olden days buildings and then the buildings we have now so we can see how they have changed. We studied and made graphs of the population, the farmers, and the public school enrollment.

McCook County Courthouse Built in The first school was the ground floor of the building. Now Salem's courthouse in 2010

The Old Salem Bank The old Salem bank was built in This was the first brick building. It’s on Main Street. Here is the old Salem Bank. It is now the Mountain Plains Research building. And if you look on the top it will say That's when it was built and it is still standing. This is today in 2010.

East Side Of Main Street This is Salem’s east side of main St. This what it looks like in Some of the buildings are Zapp Hardware, Shear Design, Salem Drug Store, Uniquely You.

Commercial State Bank This Commercial State Bank was built in 1881.It was moved in This is an abandoned store.

Commerical State Bank Built in It has housed through the years a bank, several clothing stores, shoe makers, doctors, dentists, lawyers, barbers, the REA, and the liquor store. This is how the building looks in We think it is empty now.

West side of Main ST. Stores on the west side of Main street. The west side of main street in 2010

Old Grade School This is the old Salem Grade School. The first Grade School in Salem was built in 1881 by J. E. Miller. The school opened in January, The old Salem grade school building built in 1899 and torn down in This is what the school looks like now in 2010.

Salem Flour Mill Was built in 1890 People did not buy flour at the grocery store. They came here with their wheat and got flour from the wheat. The mill isn’t here anymore.

Hardware Store in Salem Tyler and Brother Hardware 1882 Zapp Hardware now in 2010

First National Bank/Pete’s Oasis Hotel /Pete’s Oasis After 1945, Bob Capon and Marvin VanEmmerik used it for a furniture store in the front and a produce store in the middle. First National Bank 2010 The First Dakota National Bank is now in the place where Pete’s Oasis was.

Farm Predictions Farms will decrease because: Other people will buy the farmer’s land. Salem city will get bigger so there will be less land to farm. Might have to sell the farm because they didn’t get enough money from the crops. Farmers will get older and older and will sell their land to other farmers. People will sell land to other farmers who already have land. Farms will increase because: People might want to come back to the farm because they’ll earn money from crops and there’s more technology. People will sell land to new farmers. People will tear down old houses in town and then a new farmer might buy that land. They will advertise. Crops may also grow good so people will want to farm and they’ll get a lot of money. It’s peaceful on a farm. There’s more wild game.

School Enrollment Salem Public (includes country schools)

School Enrollment Predictions Enrollment will increase because: More people will move here and then more kids will be born. Kids will get good grades and scores. The 3 rd grade kids get such good grades. City will get bigger and the kids will have to go to school. More babies are born than people dying. Parents think the children are getting a good education and so they want to stay here. Enrollment will decrease because: People might move to get a better job or mom and dad have to drive so far to their job. Families are smaller and don’t have as many babies. Students graduate and less Kindergarten kids come. Maybe some parents want to Home School. There could be a big fire and people would want to move.

Population Prediction Reasons for moving to Salem Babies grow up, have more babies, and they stay in Salem and grow up. People move here from Sioux Falls because it’s not as crowded here. More people will build houses here because we are in the middle between Sioux Falls and Mitchell. It is safer here than Sioux Falls and Mitchell. Hwy 81 and I-90 cross near Salem. It’s not so far to drive to get to school. Reasons to move from Salem People have jobs in Sioux Falls or Mitchell and will use too much gas for driving. Some people would like to live in a big town to shop and have a lot of neighbors. Maybe Salem will be crowded and will move to a home in the country by Sioux Falls or Mitchell.

Recommendations (to get people to move here) Advertise that “Salem is a peaceful, nice, and safe town”. Salem’s name means “peace”. More restaurants and buildings. Make a domed sport building. Build a zoo and an aquarium. Build a movie theater and a drive in movie theater. Create a lake. Make another swimming pool and a hotel with a pool. Get a Chucky Cheese. Get a City Library. Get more stores.

21 st Century Teaching 21 st Century Themes Civic Literacy Global Awareness Life and Career Skills Leadership Responsibility Initiative and Self-Direction 21 st Century Skills Creativity & Innovation Critical Thinking Problem Solving Communication Collaboration

Resources the Students Used nass.usda.gov Standard Atlas of McCook Co. SD, Geo. A. Ogle & Co., Chicago 1911 Ag Statistic Service, Sioux Falls, SD Court House-Record of School Fund Apportionment Within These Borders…, McCook County, SD, 1976