Civil War Period Salt Kettle -- Iron & Steel Museum of AL, Tannehill Ironworks State Park, McCalla AL - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

This salt kettle was once part of an important salt works that supplied the Confederacy with salt.

A sign near the kettle reads as follows:

"CIVIL WAR PERIOD SALT KETTLE
ca 1864

[painting]
destruction of a Confederate salt factory along the Florida coast by the USS KINGFISHER, September 15, 1862 (Harper's Weekly)

Salt was a scarce commodity during the Civil War. It was used by the Confederate government not only to season food but to preserve meat to feed soldiers.

This salt kettle was used at a salt works during the war in Mobile to boil seawater. It was donated by Dolores Furr Gilly in 1998.

Salt was produced in a number of Confederate states from Virginia to Texas, either through mining, wells, or reduction of sea water. The practice was extensive all along the Florida coast in large, well-equipped lined evaporators complete with iron pans or salt kettles. Salt was so important that for a time commercial salt workers were exempt from military service.

Late in the war, salt was selling for $20 per hundred pounds in Texas."

Group that erected the marker: Tannehill Furnace and Foundry Commission Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: Iron & Steel Museum of Alabama Tannehill State Park McCalla, AL URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed

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