West Salem Map
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 2011 Census Bureau estimates the village had a population of 5,082.
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.
Nearby cities include La Crosse, La Crescent, Dakota, Sparta, Coon Valley.