John Hutchins discovered salt water on his land in Cumberland County and concluded that it would be possible to develop a salt works “that would be of great public utility.” An act approved February 11, 1820, allowed Hutchins “to locate and enter one thousand acres of vacant and unappropriated land . . . upon the waters of Mud camp, a branch of Cumberland river.” When Hutchins proved to the county or circuit court that he "has manufactured five hundred bushels of salt, at the place where he has now made the experiment," the register of the land office "shall issue the grant" for the thousand acres.
A worker skims brine at the Garrard Salt Works in an illustration from The Kentucky River Navigation, by Mary Verhoeff, 1917. The account ledger lists names, purchases, and payments for a company store at the Goose Creek Salt Works in Clay County, 1807. KHS Collections.
