Two of the most sought after foodstuffs within the Confederacy during the Civil War were coffee and salt. While the lack of coffee in the Southern diet posed no real threat other than the lack of good tasting beverages to accompany a meal, the shortage of salt was a handicap of major significance. Salt was needed for everyday use and was necessary for curing meat to feed the residents of the South, and more pointedly, the armies of the Confederacy. There was only one saline deposit of any consequence in the Confederacy, which was Saltville in southwest Virginia, and the possibility that the supply might be cut off by exhaustion or capture was a source of ever-deepening anxiety. As a result several salt works were erected, many along the Confederacy�s Gulf Coast, including one in Baldwin County.
Salt was so important to the state of Alabama that the State General Assembly passed Act 38 on December 9, 1862 creating the Alabama Salt Commission. From that point forward the regulatory agency was placed in charge of the purchase, manufacture, and transport of salt. The act also provided that an equal amount, not to exceed 25 pounds be sold to each household. Furthermore, it was the responsibility of each county commission to distribute salt within each county with the distribution generally taking place at the county seat.
The largest salt manufacturing facility created in Alabama was situated in Clarke County and consisted of three primary locations on the Tombigbee River. From 1862 through 1865 the Clarke County works employed a force of some 5,000 men many of whom were slaves impressed by the state to produce the salt. Even with these large numbers employed in the production of the vital mineral the shortage plagued the state so much so that the Salt Commission forbade the transport of salt outside the state.
Baldwin County�s contribution to salt production came from the Bon Secour Community where a facility to produce the much needed commodity was completed in early 1863. The construction of the facility was very much like others found along the Gulf Coast. It was comprised of long open sheds with a brick firebox running down the center of the shed. Enormous iron vessels were positioned along this fire box and were heated by a fire built at one end of the building. The hot air from the fire traveled through the fire box and was used to boil a brine substance contained in the pots rendering it into salt.
The brine was retrieved from pits dug into the local salt marsh. These pits were lined with heavy timbers which allowed the salt brine to flow through the cracks between the timbers. The brine was then collected carried to the boiling vats where it was boiled until the water evaporated and left only the salt. The salt residue was then scraped from the vats and packaged for shipment.
The importance of salt in the Confederacy was not lost on the Union effort in the South either. In September, 1864, after securing the entrance of Mobile Bay, Union troops proceeded to Bon Secour to destroy the salt works located there. Captain C.W. Stone of the 6th Michigan Volunteers recorded that forces under his command destroyed 990 of the iron vats and hauled away 30,000 feet of lumber. In his official report, Captain Stone mentioned that his forces burned all that was left behind at Bon Secour including �a number of buildings having been constructed by the Confederate forces as quarters for soldiers, the place being known as Camp Anderson.�
Today Bon Secour is famous for its beautiful scenery and quiet living along the Bon Secour River. It is also home to some of the best seafood, including shrimp and oysters, in the world. But its past is rooted deeply in the production of a commodity so important to the survival of a people and a cause that a state agency was created to guarantee its production and guard its usage. Salt�s importance, while mostly overlooked in the 21st century, was at the center of Civil War strategy and a part of Baldwin County�s rich history.