Union Saltworks in Brielle
Throughout history salt has been so valuable to civilization that cities have often been established around the availability and easy transport of the mineral. Prior to the American Revolution, salt was imported to America from British Colonies in the Caribbean. When the Revolutionary War started in 1775, Britain placed an embargo on imported salt and British Loyalists were used to intercept shipments of salt to Revolutionaries. Without access to salt, many foods could not be preserved, and food that was available was often not very fresh and barely palatable. At that time “no salt” basically meant “no food” for those fighting the war.
The salt shortage to American colonists was so serious that on May 28, 1776 Congress approved a bounty for salt that could be smuggled through the British blockade or salt that could be produced locally. As a result of the blockade and the available bounty, many saltworks were built along the coast. The Union Saltworks at Union Landing (now Brielle) became one of the largest salt-producing operations. It was located on about five acres by Green Avenue in Brielle, on what is now Hoffman’s Marina. Green Avenue, because of its proximity to the saltworks, was once known as “The Old Salt Road.”
The Union Saltworks used windmill-powered pumps to draw the water from the river into large cisterns. The water was boiled away and the remaining salt was packed into barrels or baskets and shipped by salt schooners to various ports. The value of salt increased dramatically during the war years from about 30 cents a bushel to as much as $35 a bushel. Salt was so important that men working at saltworks operations along the coast were exempt from military service, and militia forces of up to 45 men often protected the larger works.
On the morning of April 5, 1778 approximately 200 British troops and Loyalists sailed from Sandy Hook into the Squan Inlet and attacked the Union Saltworks. The local militia was not able to protect the saltworks and the entire operation of up to 100 drying houses, as well as all the other buildings in the area, was destroyed. The British troops also destroyed provisions including immense quantities of beef, salted and fried hams, bacon, flour, corn and hay. By 3:00 pm that same day, the attacking troops sailed away.
According to available records, the saltworks must have been rapidly rebuilt, as the operation was advertising for woodcutters in March, 1779. The five-acre saltworks property and all of its equipment, and home and all household goods, along with another 160 acres of land, were listed for sale on March 24, 1779. On April 21, 1780 the Union Saltworks was attacked again by ship in an attempt to capture the officers and soldiers stationed there to protect it. At the time of this attack most of the troops stationed at the saltworks had left and only about 6 or 7 militiamen were still there. Those soldiers were captured and taken back to the ship. How much of the saltworks was destroyed in this second attack is unknown.
Artifacts such as old wooden pipes and very old bricks thought to have been part of the Union Saltworks have been found on properties at the edge of the river on Green Avenue and on Crescent Drive. It is hard to imagine that this peaceful location was once the site of a thriving salt industry so important to the Revolutionary War effort, and the site of repeated attacks by the British.
- Union Landing Historical Society of Brielle