Salt Springs

History

History information is some background and history about the location. This is meant to be a basic summary. Below the history records you will find sources in which you can click on to find out more information. There may be multiple history records per location.

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The Salt Springs in Mahoning County, Ohio—also known as the Salt Lick—were natural briny springs once located in Weathersfield Township (now part of modern-day Youngstown and Niles). They formed a cluster of four springs within about 200 feet, including a salt spring along with magnesia, sulfur, and lithia springs. Long before European settlers arrived, Indigenous peoples—particularly members of the Lenape, Shawnee, and Massasaugas—boiled water from these springs to extract salt and used the spring waters for medicinal purposes.

The springs gained wider recognition in 1755 when cartographer Lewis Evans marked them on a map printed by Benjamin Franklin, highlighting their regional importance to early trappers and settlers. The name “Mahoning” itself is believed to derive from the Lenape word “ma-hon-ink,” meaning “at the lick,” a nod to the salt lick’s significance.

In 1788, General Samuel Holden Parsons acquired roughly 24,000 acres known as the “Salt Springs tract” with the intent to harvest salt through boiling. He drowned in 1789 before substantial development occurred, causing the land to revert to the State of Connecticut. In 1796, Reuben Harmon purchased the tract, but efforts to produce large-scale salt failed due to the low salinity of the water. There were incidents of violence—one storekeeper was killed in 1786, and another salt maker met the same fate in 1804—underscoring the turbulent frontier life.

By 1810, the springs had lost their economic appeal as the process remained too labor-intensive for the scant salt yields. In 1903, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad filled in much of the spring site—burying the once-famous springs about 40 feet beneath the tracks. Yet, even into the mid-20th century, traces persisted: in 1952, reports noted “one lone spring continues to bubble up through a piece of drain tile,” with a faint taste of salt and a strong sulfur odor.

In recognition of this rich heritage, an Ohio Historic Marker was erected near Kerr Cemetery on June 30, 2018, commemorating the vital role these springs played in attracting both Indigenous peoples and European settlers to the Mahoning Valley and reminding everyone of the origins of regional place names and early commerce.

The story of the Salt Springs beautifully ties together Native American traditions, colonial cartography, pioneer enterprise, and early industrial shifts in northeastern Ohio. Let me know if you'd like more on their precise modern-day location—or on how similar saline features shaped settlement patterns in the Western Reserve.

Added by: sdonley on 06/18/2025 DB#:752
Source(s):
Various Sources

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