Who we are
The Kanawha Valley Salt Museum is located in Malden, WV and houses a wide array of antique salt industry memorabilia and relics. The museum is a project of the of the Kanawha Salines Foundation Inc., a 501(c)3 whose mission is to preserve and educate the public about the role that the salt industry played in the early history of the Kanawha Valley. The museum is located on the Dickinson family farm where JQ Dickinson and Co. produced salt from 1830’s up until 1945.
Let’s Begin
Early Drilling Techniques
Early Drilling Techniques
Native Americans were attracted to the valley later named Kanawha (“Big White Rock”), because of the abundancy of livestock. The animals tended to flock to the area because of the saltwater springs. The natives learned how to make salt by boiling the brine from the springs. A technique which was picked up upon by Mary Ingles following her captivation by the Shawnee. When Mary was able to escape and make her way back home near present day Blacksburg, she educated people about the salt springs in western Virginia. Since salt was critical for nutritional intake and food preservation back then, many folks began to migrate to the Valley for the purposes of making and selling salt. At the time of the Way of 1812 when salt imports from England were discontinued, the number of salt furnaces boomed to 52, producing one million bushels of salt.