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Henry County · Frontier · 1773 – 1785

Drennon Springs Salt Works

In Henry County — a short drive from Shelby/Bagdad — Jacob Drennon and Matthew Bracken claimed the big salt lick on July 26, 1773; Nicholas Cresswell in 1775 described some fifty acres of buffalo-trampled ground and springs strong enough to leave salt crusts in the sun.

Virginia’s Patrick Henry patented 400 acres including the springs to George Rogers Clark in 1785, and boiling works rose that winter. 1990s bridge archaeology documented ten stone-lined furnace trenches and rare kettle fragments — one of the few early Kentucky salt industries dug with care.

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Published . Last revised .

Chicago

Snowden, Shannon. "Drennon Springs Salt Works." Kentucky History Drive. Published September 16, 2026. Last revised September 16, 2026. https://kyhistorydrive.com/stories/drennon-springs-salt-works/.

MLA

Snowden, Shannon. "Drennon Springs Salt Works." Kentucky History Drive, published 16 Sept. 2026, last revised 16 Sept. 2026, https://kyhistorydrive.com/stories/drennon-springs-salt-works/.

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