Our History
350 Million Years Ago
Founded in January 1997, the American Rock Salt Company is the newest, most sophisticated, and the largest-producing salt mine in the United States. However, the history of our mine does not start with the founding of our company. Our story begins before the first dinosaur ever walked across the earth, around 350 million years ago! During that period, an ancient saltwater ocean had engulfed the entire region of what we know today as the New York Genesse Valley! Over time the water levels receded and dried up, but the salt from the sea remained, which formed layers upon layers of Halite, commonly known as rock salt. This rock salt is the salt that we mine here today!
1884 - 1997
Salt mining in the Western New York region began back in 1884, with the opening of the Retsof Salt Mine, located just 8 miles from our mine in Retsof, New York. For nearly 110 years, the Retsof Salt Mine provided thousands of job opportunities to the local region, proudly claimed four generations of miners, and produced over 134 million tons of salt throughout its history!
1997 - Present Day
The American Rock Salt Company was founded on January 31st, 1997, when Joseph Bucci Sr., Gunther Buerman, Neil Cohen, and Charles VanArsdale entered into an asset purchasing agreement with Akzo-Nobel to acquire the assets and the developmental rights to a new salt mine. Construction of the American Rock Salt Mine at Hampton Corners began in November 1998 and was completed three years later on December 14th, 2001. We are the first successful salt mine built in the United States in over 50 years. Daily production of the mine can reach 20,000 tons, making American Rock Salt the largest producing salt mine in the U.S.A!
