I discovered an abandoned salt mine was about a minute away from where I work when some tourists came in asking about the “square-shaped silos” they saw on the way. I asked my boss and he knew they were old elevator shafts for salt mining and told me where they were. Score!
Turns out there are plenty of salt mines in the Finger Lakes, but many are no longer in operation. The Finger Lakes area was once a huge sea that dried up about 300 million years ago… with its departure leaving salt, salt and more salt. Watkins Glen, at the southern end of Seneca lake, still has two operating salt brine factories owned by Cargill and US Salt. One is tapped into a well some 1,000 feet below the ground.
The process of mining salt is extremely taxing on the surrounding environment. We simply need to look at Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, NY to see an example of this damage. In its hay day of salt production, Syracuse was providing much of the US with its salt – all coming from Onondaga Lake, or what was referred to as “Salt Lake.” The major salt company, Solvay Process company, produced about 20 tons of soda ash per day on average. All the waste was dumped directly into Onondaga Lake. The company later merged with four other chemical companies and continued to dump waste, including large amounts of mercury, into Onondaga Lake, until New York State filed a lawsuit against the company in 1989. Just now the city is getting around to its “lake restoration project”.
But anyway. You probably want to see some cool pictures, so that will suffice for a quick overview of the salt mining industry in the Finger Lakes. If you want, there is more information on Onondaga Lake here and on the salt mining process here.
This factory is located in Himrod, NY, and was owned by Morton Salt.
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Abandoned in NY 
I worked at the Seneca Lake Mine from 1972 – 1974 as a mineworker and surveyor. the mining operations were 2100+ feet underground. Unfortunately a combination of environmental and fault issues led to closing of the mine in 1976.
Very cool! That was an awesome place to explore. I saw a lot of weird stuff in the front building to the left when you’re walking in from Severne Rd, like one room that was labeled “Keeper of the Light” above the door… do you know what that building was used for?
Dan:
I read your comment on possible faulting at old Morton salt mine at Himrod. We are involved in issues at Seneca gas storage project and wonder if you have any more specific data on faults in the old Himrod mine. Himrod is also close to the earthquake recorded last year.
Richard A. Young
Department of Geological Sciences
SUNY Geneseo
NY 14454
email: young@geneseo.edu
Dan:
I read your comment on possible faulting at old Morton salt mine at Himrod. We are involved in issues at Seneca gas storage project and wonder if you have any more specific data on faults in the old Himrod mine. Himrod is also close to the earthquake recorded last year.
Richard A. Young
Department of Geological Sciences
SUNY Geneseo
NY 14454
email: young@geneseo.edu
Hi Dan, I’d love to be in touch regarding your experience while working at the mine. I’m curious to know what became of the mine spoils that remained after the mine shut down.
Best regards, John Dennis e-mail: johnvdennis@gmail.com
My aunt lived on one of the rail lines in Himrod, next the the John Deere dealer. At one point once the mine closed, they were spraying water on the salt piles and pumping the solution back into the mine.