The Salt Palace Museum, Grand Saline, Texas

I had no idea that the salt we use from the Morton salt container comes from a small town called Grand Saline in Texas. The city of Grand Saline is home to one of the largest, purest salt domes in the United States with a supply estimated to last 20,000 years. The museum's outside walls are made of pure rock salt.

Current Rock Salt Palace

The salt palace has been rebuilt three times. The original salt palace was built in 1936 as part of the State of Texas Centennial Celebration just east of the present building. The solid salt structure, patterned after the Alamo, was built and staffed by volunteers and used as a tourist center for the town. The second salt palace was constructed in 1960 and used for a short time. It was built out of salt blocks. The third salt palace was built at the present location on the concrete foundation of the first gasoline station in Grand Saline. It is built of solid salt rocks donated by the Morton Salt Company, a salt mortar mixture was used to replicate the original Salt Palace of 1936. 

Rock Salt Palace

Salt Block

Inside the Salt Dome

The salt prairie southeast of town is the center of the deposit. Salt water rises to the surface and crystallizes in the sand as the water is evaporated by the sun and wind. The area was used as a source of salt by Caddo Indians as early as 800AD and by the Cherokee Indians until 1839. Salt production was started in 1845. This salt deposit is a protrusion from a main salt bed that runs across most of east Texas and western Louisiana at about 4 miles beneath the surface. Theory is that this area was once part of the Gulf of Mexico. The seas dried up, leaving layers of salt that were covered as the earth's layers shifted and changed. Volcanic activity or an intense heat melted the salt burning up any other minerals or fossils and pressure caused the molten salt to push to the surface. This is one of 15 large domes of salt found in east Texas.

The darker section at the top of this dome is about 750 feet below the surface and is the amount of salt that has been mined for the past 90 years. The dome of salt is 20,000 feet from the top to the bottom and 1.5 miles in diameter at the 750 foot level. The mine temperature is around 75 degrees and varies only one degree due to seasonal temperature changes. The city of Grand Saline sits on top of this dome. 

Sodium Chloride, or common salt, has been an important factor in the history of civilization as far back as the memory of man. It is a necessity to human and animal life, and to supply this need nature has been very generous. Besides being present in the waters of all the oceans, there are numerous deposits of salt in varying forms scattered all over the globe. the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana and Texas are particularly fortunate in having within their borders a number of salt deposits in the form of domes. These domes are literally mountains of salt which have been thrust up through the earth's strata from some huge subterranean deposits.

There were numerous different companies in the area that owned salt companies throughout the years, but in 1920 the Morton Salt Company bought the holdings. The only mine which has ever been in Grand Saline is the Morton Salt Mine located one mile south of town. Morton Salt began processing salt water from deep brine wells in steam broilers. In 1931 the underground mining began.

The mother bed of salt is a remnant of an ancient sea which dried up during an extremely arid period in the earth's history. The salt beds were formed during the Permian age, approximately 250,000,000 years ago. The top of this evaporated deposit of salt now lies 213 feet below the surface in the Grand Saline area  and it has a thickness of over 20,000 feet. The salt in Grand Saline's dome is 98.5% pure NaCl. The major impurity is calcium sulphate. The salt is pure and unusually hard and stable. This property permits the Grand Saline mine to be operated without expense of a roof bolting program. Because of this and other advantages, the mining cost per ton is competitive with much larger mines elsewhere.

Salt that could be mined from this mine (with modifications) going to a depth of 4,000 feet would amount to approximately 3,791,508,184,000 tons. Considering that 24,239,750 tons of salt was produced in the United States during 1978, the Grand Saline mine could supply the entire country for many thousands of years.

Salt is mined by the room and pillar method using belts and front end loaders for production. Rooms are 75 feet wide and 25 feet high, leaving pillars of salt for support blocks 130 feet square. Future benching will enlarge the rooms to a total of 75 feet in height from floor to roof. 

Grand Saline is one of two plants in the company producing both rock salt and evaporated salt. It produces all major grades of evaporated salt including dendritic salt. It also is the sole producer of shaker products and potassium chloride (salt substitute) for the Morton Salt division. The portion of the plant commonly referred to as "the mill" is the hub of the plant operations. More personnel and expense are involved in the milling operation than the combined total of all other departments.

Early Salt Production

Black Lava Sea Salt, Hiwa Kai, Hawaii

Pure Himalayan Sea Salt

Red Salt from 1850 feet under
the Tabasco Plant, Avery Island, LA

Salt comes in different colors as well, depending on what other substances are in the salt bed along with it.

Look at the bottom of your Morton Salt container to see if the letters "GS" are stamped on it, and you will know that your salt is 99% pure and came from the Morton Salt Plant in Grand Saline, Texas.

One of the most successful and lasting idea sessions in the early days of advertising took place in 1911, shortly after the salt sales agency headed by Joy Morton was incorporated as the Morton Salt Company. From a routine advertising presentation came the exchange of ideas that resulted in the first Morton Salt Umbrella Girl and the slogan that is now recognized by most Americans.

The Morton Salt Umbrella Girl and slogan first appeared on the blue package of table salt in 1914. Throughout the years the ageless girl has changed dresses and hairstyles to stay fashionable. She was updated in 1921, 1933, 1941, 1956, and 1968. 

1914

1921

1933

1941

1956

1968

In 2014, the Morton Salt Girl was refreshed one more time in celebration of her 100th year as the face of the brand. Her message and appeal to American consumers remains undiminished by fashion's fickle fads or changes in advertising techniques. Each year she appears in parades, at costume parties and in schoolrooms throughout the country, brought to life by creative youngsters and adults. She also is a favorite illustration for student science projects about salt.

2014

Widespread curiosity about the Umbrella Girl's origin and history has prompted tons of letters over the years. She is so much a part of the daily lives of Americans that many people see a resemblance to a sister, cousin, or niece, and they often write to ask the name of the real person who was the model for the Umbrella Girl (in fact, there never was a real model).

The Morton package also has been modernized through the years, although it still incorporates the two most prominent features of the original, the pouring spout and the dark blue label. The label, of course, has been redesigned a number of times.



Quote for the day: "The Morton Salt Girl has been a stable in hearts and homes all across America for 100 years. She is more than just a symbol of our brand. She's an American way of Life." ~~ Morton Salt Company