WorldWide Drilling Resource

Hitting the Salty Spot Compiled by Amy White Associate Editor WorldWide Drilling Resource ® Family feasts always need a touch of something special. Perhaps a sprinkle of 600-million-year-old salt from West Virgina will do. J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works lies in West Virginia’s Kanawha River Valley, in the small town of Malden, a little southeast of the capital city of Charleston. It is a small operation run by sister and brother Nancy Bruns and Lewis Payne. Salt is not the first natural resource most people think of when West Virginia is called to mind; but once upon a time, salt was a prime commodity in the state. Where does the salt come from? An ancient sea below the Appalachian Mountains, the Iapetus, though mostly dry, still feeds underground springs in the area. The original J.Q. Dickinson began in 1817, and provided a basic necessity in prerefrigeration America. Pioneers needed salt and meat-packers did too. The only choice was to drill deep. Using hollowed-out tree trunks for piping, William Dickinson drilled for brine to become one of the first major salt producers in a town that became known as “the salt capital of the east.” Though as many as 50 different salt manufacturers once tapped the same brine, J.Q. Dickinson was the only salt company in West Virginia to survive into the 20th century. Even so, the business eventually came to a halt due to several factors, including increased salt production from mines in Utah and Michigan. Then, several years ago, Bruns and her husband Carter who is a historian, researched the valley’s geo- logical history and learned the ancient salt was still accessible, even though wells on the J.Q. Dickinson property were not in working order. Bruns and her brother found a map from the early 1900s; fortunately, they were able to follow it directly to the salty source. Today, J.Q. Dickinson once again bears the same name, and is run in the same location where the siblings’ ancestors started it two centuries ago. The production process is simple: Pumps draw brine from the well into a holding tank. From there, the brine is poured into long, wooden beds inside a hoop house. Once the water evaporates, the residual 600 pounds of salt is pumped into a sun house where it crystallizes. The entire process takes five weeks. J.Q. Dickinson salt is now used as a finishing touch, rather than a preservative. A dash is said to give fine food an over-the-top flavor. The key to getting just the right saltiness, according to Bruns, was to keep drilling deeper until they hit the right spot. Bruns told NPR, “We went through a lot of freshwater on the way down. And we all had cups; we were tasting it on the way down, and I just said no, keep drilling; it’s not salty yet.” Bruns said when they finally hit the right spot, everyone could relax. After a single, salty sip, the siblings knew their dream of reviving the family business could work. Much of the history of West Virginia’s economic development can be traced through the Dickinson family, back to salt 300 feet below the surface. With the work of Bruns and Payne, this pioneer industry continues to be a savory presence, adding flavor to the state’s history and the world’s culinary delights. Editor’s Note: In between our print issues, the WWDR Team prepares an electronic newsletter called E-News Flash . Based on readership, this was the most popular E-News Flash article of the month. Get in on the action and subscribe today at: www.worldwidedrillingresource.com Siblings Nancy Bruns and Lewis Payne harvest salt on the same land their ancestors did 200 years ago, but from new brine wells. Photos courtesy of Lauren Stonestreet, www.elleeffect.com Above: A handwritten note from the J.Q. Dickinson Company in 1882, and a salt well in operation by the company on the Kanawha River bank in 1910. !+34# 0/4#/# 2 #,'23(+'-& ((+%' 0& '/&'230/ 2#/ '/&'230/ $+4%0+/%20& *04.#+- %0. 777 $+4%0+/% 53 '7 3'& +43 0-' 1'/'23 2#) +43 "+/)3 #..'23 #..'2 +43 +6'24'23 ' 4+11+/) 4#$+-+8'23 -#7 +43 +1' "+1'3 0-4 0/ ''4* 5$3 60 FEBRUARY 2016 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®