South Bay Salt Works

South Bay Salt Works

Salt Works montage
Formerly called	La Punta Salt Works (1869–1901) Western Salt Company (1902–1999)
Founders	Josiah Shaffer George Stone
Products	Magnesium chloride Salt

The South Bay Salt Works is a salt factory in southern San Diego near Chula Vista, in the South Bay region of San Diego County, California.

It is the second-longest running business in San Diego, behind the San Diego Union Tribune. In the Chula Vista, it is the city's longest running business. Although in the Chula Vista area, it is not within the Chula Vista city limits; according to the City Attorney of San Diego, the property is in the Nestor neighborhood.

The buildings of the salt works are eligible to be placed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places; the buildings are already on the California Register of Historical Places.

Initially the operation began as the La Punta Salt Company. Records date it back to at least 1871, while another sources state that the area has been used as a salt works as early as the 1860s. It has been in operation since the 1870s, when the city first experienced the effects of the Industrial Revolution. In 1883, the salt works were the only salt producer in the United States, supplying the salt needs of all of Southern California. Around the turn of the 20th century, the salt works were the only industrial employment in the Chula Vista area, other than produce packing plants.

In 1902, La Punta Salt Works was purchased, and renamed to Western Salt Company. In the 1910s, about forty thousand tons of salt were harvested annually from the salt works. In 1915, a narrow-gauge railway was installed, and crossed over standard-gauge rail of the San Diego and Arizona Railway; the narrow-gauge railway was dismantled in the 1970s, except for where it crossed over standard-gauge rail, preserving the only instance of such an occurrence in the United States. In 1916, operations were disrupted due to flooding; the flood destroyed the salt ponds and the salt works built up to that point. In 1918, reconstruction began due to damage caused during the 1916 flooding, finally reaching completion in the 1950s. After the 1910s, other salt producers in San Diego County closed, leaving the salt works the sole salt producer in the county.