Salt Palace Museum History

The Cherokee Indians acquired land by treaty in 1834 around what is now Grand Saline and made the first salt in this area by evaporating the water from a salt marsh which lies on the surface over the center of the dome.
Later the land was thrown open for settlement, and there is a record of a partnership agreement for the purpose of making salt between John Jordan and A. T. McGee, dated December 17, 1845. At this time the settlement was known as Jordan's Saline, and salt was made by boiling down the brine from the marsh in iron kettles.

In January, 1850, Jordan and McGee leased all their interests in the salt works to Fredrick J. Hamm. Salt manufacturers by the use of iron kettles was then carried on by Hamm and in December , 1857, Hamm bought all of Jordan and McGee's interests. The output of salt during this period was very small due to the crude methods of manufacture and poor transportation facilities, all salt being hauled by wagon or cart to towns further East.

In January 1859, S.Q. Richardson came to Grand Saline from Kentucky and bought the Hamm interests. He made some improvements in the salt works by digging shallow wells and installing a pump operated by oxen and a treadmill, Gum logs, hollowed out and joined together formed a pipe line from the pump to the kettles.

During the Civil War, the Richardson salt works was taken over and operated by the Confederate Government. The output of the plant at this time was about 100 sacks (100lbs ea) of salt per day. After the war the plant was turned back to Richardson who from time to time enlarged it and gradually brought the output up to about 250 sacks per day.

In 1872 the Texas and Pacific Railroad was extended from Marshall to Dallas, passing through Jordan's Saline. A depot was erected and the stop was named Grand Saline. The railroad crossed the northern rim of the dome running east to west and the present town site of Grand Saline lies immediately north of the railroad.

In 1875 Richardson leased his salt works to St. Louis, Missouri company organized by G.M. Overlease. This company replaced the original kettles with large square shallow pans using the heat of the sun for evaporation. After several years of operation and some litigation the plant was again turned back to Richardson. It was about this time that the first well was drilled down into the salt dome. Brine obtained from this well had much higher percentage of salt than the surface water and consequently was more suitable for salt making.

Richardson's plant was located just across the railroad track from the southeast corner of the present town site. IN 1891 Major Byron Parsons came to Grand Saline, obtained some land at the southwest corner of the present town site on the northern side of the railroad track, organized the Lone Star Salt Company, drilled a well into the dome and erected a plant using improved open evaporating pans. Major Parsons installed steam pipe lines in the evaporating pans which greatly accelerated the evaporation process. A year later, Richardson also installed steam lines in his pans and salt production was increased in Grand Saline to about 600 barrels (280 lbs each) per day. This increased salt production brought an increase in population and on December 17, 1895 Grand Saline became an incorporated town.

In 1901, the Feilder Salt Company was organized. This company obtained a site across the railroad track several hundred yards south of the Lone Star Company plant. They also drilled a well and erected an open evaporator steam plant adding a 300 barrel production to the Grand Saline output. About 1903, Southern Salt Company as organized and located their well and plant several hundred yards southeast of the Fielder Plant. This added another 300 barrels to Grand Saline's output.

In 1904, B.W. Carrington and Company bought the Fielder Salt Company holdings and started operating with B.W. Carrington as manager. During the next two years, the Southern Salt Company and the Lone Star Salt Company were also absorbed by B.W. Carrington and Company. The Southern Salt Company plant was never operated after this transaction but the other plants continued to operate with a combined capacity of approx. 1,000 barrels (280lbs ea) per day.

During this period, the Richardson plant passed through several changes of management and ownership. S.W. Richardson died in 1900 and after his death, the heirs to the estate employed several different managers and finally sold their holdings in 1904 to the Grand Saline Salt COmpany which was organized by Emerson Carey and J. Kirk. The plant was enlarged and improved and in 1905, T.S. McGrain obtained an interest in the company and came to Grand Saline as manager. McGrain brought capacity of the plant up to approx. 750 barrels of salt per day and operated it until 199. This plant was destroyed by fire in 1917, rebuilt and put in operation only to be again destroyed by fire in 1919. The plant was never rebuilt after the second fire and holdings of the company were sold to the Morton Salt Company in 1920.

in the meantime, B.W. Carrington and Company continued to operate the Fielder and Lone Star PLants up to 1913. The Fielder plant was then abandoned and extensive improvements made in the original Lone Star plant. Installation of a battery of three vacuum pans was completed in 1914. These pans increased the capacity of the plant and also made a finer grade of table salt.

In 1918, another battery of three vacuum pans was added to the plant. This additional modern equipment, together with the old, open or grainer pans, brought the capacity of the plant up to 2,000 barrels a day.

In 1920 Morton Salt Company took over the holdings of the B.W. Carrington & Company. As time passed, most of the evaporated salt producing companies in Grand Saline faded out of existence and Morton Salt operations were consolidated with the Lone Star Plant which was operated until it burned in 1948.

The only mine which has ever been in Grand Saline is the Morton Salt Mine located one mile south of town. The shaft for this mine was completed in 1931. After the mine and rock mill was established at the present site in 1931, Morton operated what amounted to two separate plants until the evaporator plant was located adjacent to the mining operation following the 1948 fire. Although many modifications and improvements have been made to the Grand Saline plant over the years, the basic configuration of the plant has remained the same since the post fire rebuilding program.

The mother bed of salt is a remnant of an ancient sea which dried up during an extremely arid period in Earth's history. The salt beds were formed during the Permian age, approx 250,000 years ago. The top of this evaporated deposit of salt now lies 213 feet below the surface in the Grand Saline are and it has a thickness of over 20,000 feet.

Grand Saline produces all major grades of evaporated salt including dendritic salt. It also is the sole producer of shaker products and potassium chloride (salt substitute) for the Morton Salt division. The plant has a workforce of approx. 167 hourly employees and 45 salaried employees.

Compiled by J.E. Hanes, Former Mgr. Morton Salt Co. Dec 17, 1945
Revised by R.F. Hardiman, Manager