West Salem, Wisconsin

West Salem, Wisconsin is located in Western Wisconsin. It was founded in 1851 by Thomas Leonard.

West Salem is a village in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States, along the La Crosse River. It is part of the La Crosse Metropolitan Area. The population was 4,799 at the 2010 census.

History
West Salem was platted in 1856. It was named Salem by a Baptist minister named Elder Card because the word meant "peace". The word West was added to the name when mail was confused with another town in the state named Salem.

The donation of approximately ten acres of land to a railway company led to the creation of West Salem. A train station was built in West Salem on the original Milwaukee and La Crosse Railway which ran to La Crosse. It was later taken over by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway (later becoming the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad). The railway used the land to build a depot and tracks.

Geography
West Salem is located at (43.899795, -91.086614).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 2.4 square miles (6.2 km²), of which, 2.4 square miles (6.2 km²) of it is land and 0.42% is water.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 4,541 people, 1,706 households, and 1,230 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,911.2 people per square mile (736.5/km²). There were 1,765 housing units at an average density of 743.0/sq mi (286.3/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 98.04% White, 0.51% African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.07% from other races, and 0.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.59% of the population.

Tags: Community & Government