Like a Jules Verne fantasy, a ghostly city with its own network of four lane highways lies deep beneath the industrial heart of Detroit, its crystalline walls glittering and gleaming in the flickering light. It is a world of no night or day.
It is a world of salt.
This gigantic salt mine, 1,200 feet beneath the surface, spreads out over more than 1,400 acres with 50 miles of roads. It lies underneath Dearborn's Rouge complex , much of Melvindale and the north end of Allen Park. The mine shaft opening is in Detroit.
The International Salt Mine Company operated the mines until 1983, when falling salt prices brought a halt to production.
Throughout history, salt has always been a precious commodity, often traded ounce for ounce for gold. Jesus called his disciples "the salt of the earth," a statement commemorated during Roman Catholic baptismal ceremonies by placing a few grains of salt on the child's tongue. [from MetaFilter.com]
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