The very first church building of what would become Salem United Methodist was located about 1.5 miles south of the current building and burned sometime before 1858.

In 1858, a larger structure was built at the present site. This was a one-room school built on the right side of the property. In the early 1900's this schoolhouse was torn down and the children sent to Kempsville.

In 1913, the church was reconstructed with lumber salvaged from the original building. Our sanctuary is built on the original 12 x 12 hand-hewn sills. The first service held here in the rebuilt sanctuary was at noon on December 10th, 1914 by Reverend J.T. Routton. On July 1st, 1915, the church was officially dedicated.

In the 1930's the church was wired for electricity and the old carbide lights were turned upside down and converted to electric bulbs. Those same lights are still in operation today. The altar furniture and communion table are from the original building as well.

In the 1940's, the roof of the bell tower began to leak, so the church replaced the bell tower with the simple roof over the narthex. At the same time, the front entrance and steps were altered as well.

In 1956, the plans for the social hall were approved, which included the social hall, kitchen, and 2 bathrooms. This construction was completed in 1957.

23 years later, the four lower classrooms were added and dedicated on June 1st, 1980. 7 years later, the sanctuary and the lower classrooms were connected and expanded upon, adding the pastor’s office, quilting room, nursery, preschool classrooms, 2 more bathrooms, handicapped elevator, and larger narthex.

In 2005, we added a larger kitchen with more amenities to the social hall and turned the old kitchen into what is now the Boy Scout room.

As technology progressed, so too did we as during the 2010's, we added two television screens for the congregation and pastor for aiding worship. We moved our old sound board to the back corner of the sanctuary and replaced it, also adding hanging microphones for the choir. In May of 2020, we had wi-fi cabling run throughout the church to better connect our church to the greater community. In 2024 into 2025, we began to stream our services online to extend our outreach further.

We began as a one-church charge with its own pastor who shared a minister with 10 other churches. This minister preached at Salem and Beech Grove every third Sunday while on the other Sundays, lay persons preached. In 1915, Salem became part of the Lynnhaven charge and in 1944, it joined Nimmo and Tabernacle to become the Princess Anne charge. Later, in 1976, we returned to a single station church.