I finally took time to read this. Very interesting. TJ Ronald Vick wrote: > During the Civil war, salt was in such high demand in the south that a man > could get an exemption from the draft by working in the salt fields. It > was hot sweaty work, but at least the salt flats didn't shoot holes in a > person. > One of the locations was the flat areas on the northwest side of St. Andrew > Bay, in the pan-handle area of Florida. The way it worked was that dikes > were opened to allow the flow of sea water into a large flat area, then it > was sealed off and the water allowed to dry, leaving salt behind. > > The Union never considered that this would be a military target so it > operated until the very end of the war. At that time a union officer was > sent to scout the area. In his travels around the bay, he fell in love > with the land to the northeast side of the bay and decided that he'd like > to live there. > > He bought all of the land at a very reasonable price and went into the real > estate business. He laid out a complete city, with streets named after the > states running north & south, with numbered streets east and west. > > The thing that really made his procedure unique was that he'd only sell to > veterans of the union army. Many bought the land and had houses built as > retirement homes, although some moved in fairly soon after the war. > > It was pretty hard for them not to notice all the monuments all over the > south, commemorating the southern soldiers, so during a meeting they passed > the idea, collected money, bought and erected a large statue to the Union > Soldier. > > The statue was the starting point of many parades, and also the gathering > point for funerals. The old cemetery is about a mile east of the town is > filled with union soldiers and the family members that moved south with them. > > Today, the town is a sleepy little town, with moss draped oak trees and an > easy going attitude such as is found in many southern towns, but they have > this one unique statue. Incidently, the salt flats are still across the > bay, you can see them easily as you fly into the local airport, but instead > of salt, they're used to grow commercial shrimp. > > Ok, everyone can wake up now. > > Ron > > PS- I never did find how Vicksburg, Fl got it's name.