Grand Saline, Texas
| Grand Saline, Texas | |
|---|---|
| City | |
| Nickname(s): "The Salt City" | |
 Location of Grand Saline, Texas |
|
| Coordinates: 32°40′40″N 95°42′41″W / 32.67778°N 95.71139°WCoordinates: 32°40′40″N 95°42′41″W / 32.67778°N 95.71139°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Van Zandt |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2.0 sq mi (5.2 km2) |
| • Land | 2.0 sq mi (5.2 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 400 ft (122 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 3,136 |
| • Density | 1,522.2/sq mi (587.7/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 75140 |
| Area code(s) | 903 |
| FIPS code | 48-30476 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1336803 |
Grand Saline is a city in Van Zandt County, Texas, United States, located in East Texas. The population is 3,266. Grand Saline is the third largest city in Van Zandt County and is located roughly 75 miles (120 km) east of Dallas and 35 miles (56 km) northwest of Tyler, the two nearest metropolitan areas, and is part of the greater Tyler/Longview area. The town derives its name from the large salt deposits located southeast of the city, and a large salt mine, the second largest in the world according to sources, which Morton Salt company owns and mines just south of the city.
Grand Saline's first settlers were the ancient Caddo Indians and Cherokee Indians tribes who discovered and made use of a large salt prairie south of the town's present day location. The Native Americans used evaporated salt from the brine stream that flows over the flats as a commodity they traded for other needed goods. By the mid-nineteenth century, the tribes had been forced out of the area by Mirabeau B. Lamar, second president of the Republic of Texas and by general anti-Indian sentiment and moved further southeast. Only a few short years after the Indians left the salt prairie behind, a new group of settlers arrived. A settler named John Jordan and other settlers brought their families and set up a primitive salt works. Just as the Caddo and Cherokee had done before, they used the brine stream they could see to boil and evaporate the water and harvest the salt left behind. The first community named Jordan’s Saline quickly became the center of Van Zandt County and was, for a while the county seat.
During the American Civil War, the salt works at Jordan’s Saline were considered indispensable to the Confederate war effort. The salt produced here was used in the process of tanning leather and purifying and preserving food stuffs. It was considered such a valuable asset that Jordan’s Saline was one of the best protected cities in the confederacy. Following the war, the Texas and Pacific Railroad was extended from Marshall to Dallas. A parcel of land was donated to the railroad and a depot was built and the stop was named Grand Saline. The City of Grand Saline was officially incorporated in 1895 and the community of Jordan’s Saline faded into history as its residents moved north to the now bustling new city.
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