The Salt Palace Museum in Grand Saline Texas is the only building in North America made of pure rock salt.
In the center of Grand Saline, Texas sits the only building in North America made of pure rock salt...known as the Salt Palace Museum.
Grand Saline is home of one of the largest, purest salt domes in the nation with a supply estimated to last twenty thousand years! Grand Saline is also the Texas home of the Morton Salt Company. Many visitors cannot resist a taste... just to prove the building material is truly made of salt.
The original Salt Palace was built in 1936 as part of the State of Texas Centennial Celebration. The solid salt structure was patterned after the Alamo town but was eventually torn down due to deterioration.
Then, in 1975 a group of citizens decided to initiate the annual Salt Festival, held the second weekend of June, and as a centerpiece, the Salt Palace was rebuilt at its present location. Built of solid salt rocks donated by Morton Salt, a salt mortar mixture was used to replicate the original salt house.
In 1993 the tiny salt building was melting away and was replaced by the present building. Changes were made in the design which included an overhanging roof to help protect the salt exterior from weather.
A museum board was formed in 1995 to operate the Salt Palace and create a museum for the city. The museum not only features the salt industry, which dates back to 1845, but also the rich history of Grand Saline and its citizens.
Displays inside the Salt Palace include salt mining memorabilia and photographs. A video tape filmed in the Morton Salt mine shows mining operations at 750 feet underground. Morton Salt does not longer allows tours in the mine.
