North Carolina's Civil War Salt Works
Near Wilmington, North Carolina
Salt sounds mundane, but in the Civil War it was as vital as ammunition. Without it, meat spoiled and armies went hungry. When the Union blockade cut off Southern ports, North Carolina faced a salt crisis almost immediately.
Beginning in eighteen sixty-one, the state established its own salt works stretching from near here to Myrtle Grove Sound, boiling seawater in large iron kettles to extract the mineral. At peak operation the works produced large quantities of salt. Federal raids destroyed works elsewhere along the coast, making the Wilmington operation even more critical.
The works did not survive the war. The site is a small but telling reminder of how the Confederacy struggled to supply the basics of survival.
