Editing Salem, Connecticut (section)

===Salem today===

Over the decades, Salem has slowly progressed from a small and remote farming town to a [[bedroom community]] of about 4,000; in the 1990s, it was one of the fastest growing [[municipality|municipalities]] in the state. However, it is still a small town by Connecticut standards. It did not even have its own [[ZIP code]] until the mid-1990s; before then, it was shared with Colchester.

During its early years, Salem had several schoolhouses scattered throughout town, like most [[New England]] communities of the time; one is still visible on White Birch Road. Salem School was built in 1940 near the [[village green|town green]] as little more than a large schoolhouse. Several additions have been built since then, the most recent opening in 1994. Today, Salem School is one of the largest K–8 schools in the state, with about 600 students. Students in grades 9 through 12 attend high school in the neighboring town of [[East Lyme, Connecticut|East Lyme]]; this will be the case until at least 2039<ref>{{cite web |title=Salem, EL agree to new 20-year high school agreement |url=https://www.theday.com/local-news/20160516/salem-el-agree-to-new-20-year-high-school-agreement/ |website=The Day |publisher=The Day Publishing Company |access-date=December 26, 2022}}</ref>
, when the current co-op agreement between the two towns expires.

[[Connecticut Route 85]] was commissioned from the old turnpike in 1932. Traffic increased considerably over the next several decades, and the [[Connecticut Route 11|Route 11]] [[controlled-access highway|expressway]] was proposed as an alternate through route. Lack of funding and bureaucratic issues caused construction to halt in 1972 in Salem at [[Connecticut Route 82|Route 82]]. The project was revived in the mid-1990s, and in August 2004, Route 11 was announced as a federal high priority project under [[George W. Bush|President Bush]]'s [[Executive Order 13274]], during a surprise visit by [[U.S. Transportation Secretary]] [[Norman Mineta]] to Salem. The new highway was to be accompanied by a [[Greenway (landscape)|"greenway"]] of preserved land, a first in the nation. However, the State of Connecticut halted work on the project in 2009, citing funding issues. Most Salem residents favor completion because it would remove through traffic from local roads. Though effectively canceled, the highway project remains a frequently discussed political issue in the town.

Salem has very little commercial and industrial development, which has not kept pace with the rapid residential growth; the "four corners" area, at the busy junction of Route 85 and Route 82, is virtually all that exists. As a result, taxes in the town are generally high.

The last operating dairy farm in Salem, near Gardner Lake, which was an official supplier of [[Cabot Creamery|Cabot]] cheese, closed in 2004, though there remains a small dairy goat farm, Syman Says Farms, that produces goat milk bath and body products.

In 2006 Salem [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scout]] Troop 123 was one of the largest in the state of Connecticut. In 2006 this troop sent more scouts to summer camp than any other Connecticut troop. Most years more than 50 percent of second grade boys are enrolled in the Salem Cub Scouts.