Saltville, VA - Salt Pans and Mines on Waymarking.com

Saltville was named for the briney marshes where salt was obtained by evaporation. Even now, the marshes are home to life that would normally be associated with coastal beaches versus the surrounding mountains.

The coordinates are for Salt Park, which was the site of the first salt mine in the United States. Picks and shovels were employed to extract the salt from the veins running through the area. Later, it was found to be more efficient to pump the brine to wood fired evaporating pans, thus the steam-driven beam pump and a set of pans are displayed in the park.

Saltville supplied a key resource for the Confederacy during the US Civil War as it was the primary means for perserving meat for transport. Pair of battles were fought until the works were mostly destroyed. Encyclopedia Virgina link

The salt was also used to make soda ash by the Mathieson Chemical Corporation (later purchased by Olin Corporation), but that's not the focus of this waymark.

Kind: Salt Mine Is the place still active?: no

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