Most people think of salt as that white seasoning found in the salt shaker on virtually every dining table.  It is that surely, but it is far more.  It is the essential element in the diet of not only humans, but of animals, and even of many plants.  Salt is one of the most effective and widely used of all food preservatives.  It’s industrial and other uses are almost without number.

    Salt is so important that Homer called salt a divine substance.  Plato described it as especially dear to the  Gods.  Today we take salt for granted.  Until about 100 years ago, Salt was one of the most sought after commodities, for without salt, humans and animals would not survive.  Salt was once considered so valuable that it served as currency. Demand for salt established the earliest trade routes across unknown oceans and the remotest of deserts.  Salt has been searched for, traded for, and even fought over. 

    Even though US Salt manufactures what is one of the most natural products on earth, the range of human skills and technical resources required to accomplish this feat are enormous. Since the plant in Watkins Glen, New York was established, the company has been at the forefront of technical development and was the first in the country to have pioneered new purification methods, and continues to establish new industry standards for product purity, quality assurance, packaging and customer service.

    Throughout this proud history of achievement, progress has always been linked to the environmental responsibility. Today Salt has more than 14,000 uses and is produced around the world.  This is the story of the Watkins Glen refinery from the origin of the salt deposit, to the manufacturing of the evaporated salt products made for America’s industries, farms, and homes under the US Salt banner.