SALT WELL NO. 1

Inscription

SALT WELL NO. 1
FIRST WELL OF WATKINS SALT CO.
DRILLED & STRUCK SALT 1,800
FEET BELOW SURFACE IN 1899.
BRINE PUMPED TO 4TH ST. PLANT.
DERRICK RELOCATED HERE 1994.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2025

The Watkins Salt Company was established in 1898 in Watkins Glen, New York. As officers and stockholders of the company, Warren W. and John A. Clute promoted and managed the business. The brothers quickly got to work and broke ground on Franklin Street for their first salt well in July 1899. After 47 days of drilling, the company struck a large deposit of salt 1,800 feet below the ground. The enormous salt deposit was measured as 300 feet wide. The Franklin St. salt well was titled Salt Well No. 1 to recognize the company’s first successful salt derrick. The company then pumped water, at 4,000 gallons per minute, into the ground to dissolve the salt deposit and extract the resulting brine. The brine was then pumped to the Watkins Salt Company’s plant on Fourth Street for manufacturing. The company went on to erect several other successful salt wells south of Seneca Lake and became one of the largest independent salt companies in the nation (Watkins Salt Company, n.d.). The Clute family sold the company to Cargill Inc. in 1976 (Watkins Salt Company, n.d.). Salt Well No. 1 was relocated to the southern shore of Seneca Lake at Clute Park. The salt derrick is still located here and is now used to promote education and tourism.

Sources:

Watkins Salt Company. (n.d.). New York Heritage. https://nyheritage.org/collections/watkins-salt-company