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Old Salem

Ghost town · Calloway County, Kentucky

Hazel quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1936, 1:24,000)
Hazel quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1936, 1:24,000) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Old Salem is a ghost town in Calloway County, Kentucky. It is one of 27 former communities in Calloway County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 11th among the 101 Kentucky counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Old Salem as a historical populated place on the Murray topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 36.5911° N, 88.2591° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleMurray
Elevation509 ft
Nearest living townMurray, KY
Distance to it3.8 miles
GNIS feature ID2743637
Coordinates36.59107, -88.25914

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Old Salem is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Murray, KY (population 17,888), about 3.8 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 509 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Old Salem?

Old Salem is in Calloway County, Kentucky, at 36.5911, -88.2591.

How many ghost towns are in Calloway County?

Calloway County, Kentucky has 27 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.