CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The community of Malden has been designated as a special interest Salt District for its history mining the compound.
The Kanawha County Commission approved a resolution at its July 27 meeting regarding the designation. The commission also agreed to pay for signs to be placed throughout Malden recognizing salt mining in the area.
West Virginia Delegate Larry Rowe, D-Kanawha, said the designation comes as the result of a 2016 law allowing counties to create districts.
“It might be an industrial district or shopping district or whatever,” he said. “What it allows them to do is to put signs up. It doesn’t affect land use. There’s no zoning with it.”
Rowe said the signs serve as branding for Malden.
“The only power the commission has is to put up signs, and they’ve indicated they’re willing to do that,” he said.
According to the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, salt was the first mineral industry to be developed in West Virginia. The state is located above the Iapetus Ocean, a body of water dating back around 600 million years in age.
Elisha Brooks opened the first salt furnace in the Kanawha Valley in 1797, producing 150 bushels of salt a day.
In 1808, David and Joseph Ruffner successfully dug 59 feet for a strong brine. Their younger brother, Tobias, would drill 410 feet to uncover a different brine. The same technology used in digging for salt would later be used at coal and natural gas drilling sites. By 1815, there were 52 furnaces in the area known as the “Kanawha Salines.”
In addition, David Ruffner’s experimentation with using coal in furnaces to boil salt brines led to an industry-wide switch from wood to coal.
“All of that happens in Malden with the Ruffner family,” Rowe pointed out.
Salt still plays a role in Malden’s economy today; J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works is based in Malden, and their products can be found in 500 retailers and restaurants across the United States. Malden will even host the three-day inaugural BB&T Malden Salt Fest beginning Oct. 6.
Rowe said this has helped Malden develop a “national brand,” and that will increase on a local level because of the signs.
“You live in a place and you tend not to go to the museum until somebody from out of town comes in,” he said. “What the signs will do is encourage the businesses to focus on salt.”
Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper said the commission was delighted to recognize Malden, especially if it increases the interest in the community’s exporting good.