The Detroit Salt Mines

On March 5, 2017, developer Dan Gilbert unveiled his vision for Detroit's historic Hudson site. A vision brought to life by New York based ShoP Architects in partnership with local architects Hamilton Anderson Associates.  Located on the original site of Hudson's Department Store, once the second largest department store in the nation, the site has remained vacant since the original building was imploded in 1998.  The proposed mixed use complex would give Downtown Detroit an infusion of contemporary architecture and insert into Detroit's skyline its tallest building.

ShoP Architects' proposal for Detroit's Historic Hudson site

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While I researched ShoP Architects' design, I stumbled upon another Hudson site proposal.  A design proposed in 2013 by Chicago based Moss Architecture.  Entitled the Saultbox, the building's swooping curved roof and seeming chiseled out center and entry points are inspired by Detroit's Salt mines.  A firm know for its environmentally friendly buildings, the Saultbox mimics the organic shape of the mines, and features two sustainable design elements: a green roof and stormwater recycling.

Moss Architecture's proposal for Detroit's historic Hudson site entitled: Saultbox

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It was the mention of the Detroit Salt Mines that again grabbed my attention.  And with one or two Google clicks, I quickly learned that some 1,100 feet below Detroit, within an area measuring roughly 1,500 acres, is some 100 miles of tunnels dedicated to the excavation of salt.

The Detroit Salt Mines encompass an area equal to roughly 1,500 acres

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The City of Detroit sits above one of the worlds largest deposits of salt.  Known as the Michigan Basin, the salt is a remnant of an evaporated ocean that existed 400 million years ago.  The band of salt stretches east to Lake Huron and south to Ohio.  The salt was buried by glacier movement that created the Niagara Escarpment.

A truck carry salt travels along one of the 100 miles of tunnel roads

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Springs helped Native Americans first discover the existence of the salt.  Detroiters discovered the salt in 1895.  In 1906, The Detroit Salt and Manufacturing Company began constructing a shaft down to the salt deposits. Dealing with difficulties, such as pockets of hydrogen sulfide gas and hundreds of feet of stone, the company went bankrupt before even reaching the first salt deposits.

Construction on the first mine shaft began in 1906.  This photo of the shaft entrance was taken in 1974.

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In 1910, the re-organized Detroit Salt Company completed the first shaft.   When ownership transitioned to the International Salt Company, 8,000 tons of salt was being mined a day.  In 1922, in order to increase capacity, construction began on a second shaft.  With its completion in 1925, the first shaft would be dedicated to hauling men and equipment into the mines.

Rock salt being picked up by a power shovel circa 1957

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The International Salt Company closed the mine in 1983, but in 1985, it would re-open under the ownership of Crystal Mine, Inc. In 1997, the Detroit Salt Company, LLC. took over ownership. Finally, in 2010, the Detroit Salt Company was purchased by The Kissner Group.  Today, the mine remains the areas largest supplier of ice melter products.

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Sources:

Detroit's Salt Mines: City Beneath a City, Detroit News (Michigan-History), January 2, 2016.

Detroit Salt Company Website, The Kissner Group.

Torem, Emily, Moss Architecture Blog, The Moss Proposal for the Former Hudson's Site in Detroit: Saultbox, August 15, 2013.

Lynch, Patrick, Arch Daily News, ShoP Unveils Plans for Detroit's Tallest Tower on Historic Downtown Site, February 24, 2017.

Fabricius, Karl, Scribol.com, The Giant Salt City 1200ft Beneath Detroit, June 29, 2010.