There is a place in Florida where you can walk on the beach and probably heel of your foot on a 150-year-old relic of the Civil War.

This relic is a brick that was once part of the salt salt sea water boiled, and the place in Florida is in the strip between Panama City and County San Marcos Wakulla.

Many people living in Florida today – mostly because they are from somewhere else – do not realize that Florida is a slave state in the War Civil. It was the second state to join the Confederacy. Some historians say the salt, along with livestock, may have been the main contribution of the Florida the Confederacy.

Today, cooling took for granted, but when the Civil War was fought there was no refrigeration. How important was the salt during the war? Without salt, Johnny Reb could not cure their meat. Nor could cure the leather of his boots and saddles.

"Une armée marche a son estomac, "said Napoleon Bonaparte (circa 1800 ~). 'An army marches on its stomach." How prophetic he was! Sixty years later, salt became the soul of the Confederacy. And therefore the beach areas in the Big Bend area of Florida westward across the bay St. Andrews (near Panama City) became almost as big as a battlefield, some of the most famous Civil War battles.

That is in the saline were – thousands of them along the beaches and coves of what now is being called Forgotten Coast, Florida. And that's where today you can still find bricks that were used to capture the salt of sea salt.

Salt was so important to the Confederacy like wildfire. Union General William T. Sherman gave the order to destroy the salt marshes where they are. Almost as soon as the Confederation completed construction of a salt, Union troops would destroy it. Often there skirmishes – battles ever recorded as – in the raids of the Union, but that does not mean people were not killed or wounded. One historian noted: "These actions of "minor" along the coast may have caused losses in the distant battlefields. "

Salt was so important that the Confederation Florida exempt from military service if they want to work in the salt. About 5,000 took the offer. And some were killed, although small pictures of the troops of the Confederacy salinas protection. Many of the salt works 24 hours a day, some producing up to 4,800 bushels per day (worth $ 12.50 per bushel – in 1862 dollars).

Some of the salt were enormous. The relatively hidden in the locked entries in the bay of St. Andrews was a major source of high quality salt for Confederation, which employs an estimated 2,500 men. Union forces raided the salt from the bay of St. Andrews, again and again, but the Confederation reconstructed again and again. This lasted from 1862 to 1865. One historian believes that the Union troops caused $ 3 billion in damage in the saline alone. In the area of St. Marks in the north Apalachee Bay, the losses in the Salinas approached the shore.

It is more likely to find the bricks that protected the salt boilers while walking on the beach in Cape San Blas, south of Port St. Joe. Perhaps because it is less populated, but this place in Florida appears to be the best place to slip your foot in the brick of the Civil War.

The Cabins Old Salinas on the coast of St. Joseph Bay to occupy the site of a salt plant destroyed by Union forces in 1862, if not damage the nail on the beach, you can also enjoy kayaking, canoeing, surfing, fishing, birdwatching, swimming, collecting shells, photography nature and a variety of other outdoor adventures.

Copyright (c) 2009 Gene Ingle, an award-winning editor-writer-cartographer, is an expert on places to see in Florida. He has driven nearly a million miles in Florida researching places on maps you probably never heard of. This place in Florida is one of 213 featured in The Famous Florida Trivia Game™ available free at http://www.ebookserendipity.com – Test your knowledge of Florida free.

Myra Jean’s Canoe Trip 09