Salem, locally known as the “Gateway to Little Egypt,” takes its nickname from southern Illinois, where people from isolated northern and central Illinois settlements traveled for grain during early statehood crop failures. Located at the crossroads of several prominent old trails, Salem was laid out in 1823, and later Mark Tully and Rufus Ricker deeded the land comprising Salem to Marion County for a county seat. The community grew slowly, was legally organized as a town in 1855, and became a city in 1865. William Jennings Bryan, “The Great Commoner,” was born in Salem on March 19, 1860, and lived there until 1883. A lawyer, newspaperman, congressman, Secretary of State, political advisor, and three-time candidate for the presidency, Bryan was one of the greatest orators of his day and served as prosecutor in the famous John Scopes trial shortly before his death in July 1925. Salem also has an agricultural and industrial history: it was a principal marketplace for red top hayseed, which was in great demand in Europe during World War I; oil was discovered nearby in 1938, production reached 259,000 barrels daily in March 1940; and in 1942 Salem became the eastern terminus of a 550-mile petroleum pipeline from Texas.