Old Salem

Old Salem is a small rural community located near the junction of Interstate 30 and Farm Road 1840 about five miles southwest of New Boston and twenty-six miles west of Texarkana in west central Bowie County. The area (also called Salem) was probably settled by farmers during the second half of the 1800s. The oldest marked grave in Old Salem Cemetery, located next to Old Salem Baptist Church, dates to 1880. In the 1930s the community had a school and scattered farms and dwellings. During the later part of the twentieth century the region still had homes, farms, and dairy cattle operations. Old Salem had a population of fifty in 2000.