Grand Saline, C.S.A.

The large saline deposit was a major source of salt in Texas during the Civil War. Salt was first obtained by the Indians. In 1854, works were built. Sam Richardson, the owner in 1861, went to war and left his wife to run the works until the Confederate government took over production. Because salt was considered a strategic industry, salt workers were exempt from army service for a time and many wells were sunk to obtain the more than 10,000 pounds of salt made daily for the civilians and army west of the Mississippi River. Mule-powered pumps drew the brine from the wells. Gum logs, hollowed out and pinned together formed a pipeline to huge iron evaporating kettles. Salt was then sacked, purchased and hauled away on horseback, in wagons and oxcarts. During the Civil War, the demand for salt, the only known way to preserve meat, increased to supply the Southern army. Meat was salted, smoked and then packed in salt for the long, hot trips to army camps. Horses and mules used by cavalry, artillery, and quartermaster units required the vital mineral, too. Salt also preserved hides for making shoes, harnesses and saddles. When the Confederate government levied a meat tithe on farmers, the demand for salt increased and often cattle and cotton were exchanged for salt which itself became a medium of exchange. When salt became scarce, women dug up smokehouse floors to extract salt from the soil. Other Civil War salt works were operated along the coast and in other East, Central and West Texas counties. Erected by the State of Texas 1964

Grand Saline, C.S.A. is a historical marker in Grand Saline, Van Zandt County, dedicated in 1963. It is one of 84 historical markers documented in Van Zandt County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 167 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.6741, -95.6997 near Grand Saline. The nearest cataloged historic site is Woodside Cemetery (cemetery), about 0.5 miles away. Others within a short drive include Post, Wiley Hardeman, First Methodist Church of Grand Saline, and Morton Salt Company Building.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5467011416. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.