When the county was formed, the newly installed justices were empowered to choose a time and place for holding their first court.

"The time chosen was May 21, 1838; the place, Benjamin Fairs' tavern, where the Salem Presbyterian Church stands today.

"[8] "The master builder has not been determined but it seems likely that it was Benjamin Deyerle who built many of the finer Greek Revival plantation houses in the area.

Most of the architectural details are based on plates in ante-bellum builders' handbooks such as those of Asher Benjamin and Owen Biddle, Jr."[9] The Presbyterians organized in Salem in 1831.

Firewood was placed against the wall inside the church to be used for stoking when the wood in the stove burned down during services.