The One Spring Festival In West Virginia That’s Worthy Of Your Bucket List Every Year

Spring festivals in West Virginia give us the opportunity to celebrate warm weather and the awakening of the natural world around us. One of West Virginia's newest annual festivals is steeped in one of the richest eras of state history. Don't miss the chance to check this West Virginia festival out at J. Q. Dickinson Salt Works in May!

The BB&T Malden Salt Fest returns this year on Saturday, May 18, 2024, on the beautiful grounds of the J. Q. Dickinson Salt Works. This event - free to the public - celebrates the rich legacy of salt production in the Kanawha Valley.

The craft of salt production began along the banks of the Kanawha River over 200 years ago, when settlers recognized the value of the salt springs already prized by the Native Americans and began digging wells to extract the salty brine.

Salt manufacturing became one of West Virginia's earliest industries: production from the Kanawha Valley supplied the country through the War of 1812, and by the 1830s, the area was the nation's center of salt production, especially supporting the nearby meat-packing industry in Cincinnati.

The J. Q. Dickinson Salt Works came into existence in 1817 in the town of Malden, which earned the title "Salt Capital of the East."

However, after many decades of productivity, various factors led to the demise of the Kanawha Valley salt industry, including the discovery of brine fields elsewhere in the country, the shift of the meat-packing industry farther west, a massive Kanawha River flood in 1861 that destroyed many of the local salt operations, and - primarily - the havoc wreaked by the Civil War. After the war, the Kanawha Valley Bank - West Virginia's first state bank and the predecessor of BB&T Bank - was founded to help fund efforts to restart the salt industry in the region. One of the Kanawha Valley Bank's founders was William Dickinson Jr., son of the founder of Dickinson Salt Works.

Though the bank's efforts only temporarily revived the local industry, which died out on a large scale by the 1940s, Dickinson descendants at the J. Q. Dickinson Salt Works preserve this delicious tradition today through their natural, sustainable methods of salt harvesting that result in a uniquely pure and flavorful product.

This spring, BB&T and the J. Q. Dickinson Salt Works team up once again for a fun festival to commemorate the crucial role of salt in West Virginia life and history.

The Salt Fest features fun and educational activities for the whole family: history, crafts, delicious food, and live music. It is one of our favorite West Virginia spring festivals with a fascinating history.

Tour the facilities and learn about the unique craft preserved here.

Be sure to pause and enjoy the lovely grounds of the J. Q. Dickinson Salt Works!

Don't miss the BB&T Malden Salt Fest this spring! This West Virginia spring festival has been named a Top 20 Event in the Southeast by the Southeast Tourism Society. It's that good.

Looking for more? There's also the Strawberry Festival coming up soon...

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/west-virginia/strawberry-festival-wv/