The Civil War's outcome might have been different if there has (sic) been a railroad through Grand Saline. Even though the Confederacy commandeered S. Q. Richardson's salt plant during the war, transportation was so slow it really did not help the war effort.

The salt supply was needed intensly (sic) by the Southern states since almost all salt sources were situated in the North. The situation was so bad that in 1861 a pound of salt sold for $1. And by 1864 it could not be purchased at any price.

The Kanawha salt works in the West Virginia mountains were the scene of at least four major battles during the Civil War. Jefferson Davis ordered the Confederate Army to "Hold the Kanawha salt works at all costs", but after changing hands four times the South permanently lost control of the plant.

The Confederacy was so desperate for salt that immunity from military service was granted to any man who would work at the South's attempts at producing salt. Boiling sea brine was the only resort left to the Confederate States except for the salt works too far to the west, here in "Jordan's Saline".

Cities & Communities Grand Saline and Salt Industry Van Zandt County