TEXT on Historical Marker attached: Goose Creek Salt Works-- On Oct. 23, 1862, 22nd USA Brig. including 1st, 2nd and 20th Ky. Infantry moved here in wake of retreating CSA forces. 500 men worked 36 hours to destroy salt works mainly owned by unionists but used by Confederates. Loyal USA citizens allowed to remove salt enough for their own needs on taking oath none of it would be used to benefit Confederacy.
Erected 1962 by Kentucky Historical Society-Kentucky Department of Highways. (Marker Number 531.)
From Discovering Together Kentucky's Civil War History
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Kentucky’s Civil War: Clay County’s Goose Creek Salt Works
Historical Marker #531 commemorates the
Goose Creek Salt Works, which were destroyed
by Union troops during the Civil War.
Salt was a precious commodity to both armies. Therefore,
these works, owned by Union Col. T. T. Garrard, became an
inviting target.
When the Confederates occupied southeast Kentucky in
September 1861, they sent wagon trains to Goose Creek
and procured 200 barrels of salt. Although the area soon fell
back under Union control, that autumn rebel troops again
took salt from the works. After the Confederates were driven
from the state, one Union officer noted that the Southerners
“boasted” that the salt “has been worth more to them than all
their other spoils in Kentucky.”
To prevent the salt from ever again falling into Confederate hands, Union Gen. Don Carlos Buell
ordered the works destroyed. Soldiers in charge of the destruction lamented that the local
population would suffer from the lack of salt, but they commended Mrs. Garrard for not
protesting, since “such destruction would help to restore the Union.”
After the war, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture noted that the destruction practically
ended salt manufacturing in Clay County.
Photo: Garrard owned the Goose Creek Salt Works, which were destroyed by Union troops in late 1862.