As part of an effort to clean up the shores of Manistee Lake, this old factory began to undergo demolition in the summer of 2007. It had most recently been home to General Chemical, though it was best known to locals as Hardy Salt and later as Akzo Salt.

Hazmat crews worked much of the summer dismantling the massive structure. In September of 2007, an accident with a cutting torch caused a fire to rip through what remained of the building.

Click here to see a slideshow with photos of the factory in various stages of deconstruction as well as photos of the fire. Photos taken in August and September of 2007.


This 1995 newspaper photo is from an article announcing the closing of the Manistee Akzo salt plant.

According to a report by the University of Missouri at St. Louis, "Thomas Walter Hardy, a salesman for Morton Salt, began his own salt packing and distribution company in 1914. Hardy's business grew rapidly and incorporated as the Hardy Salt Company in 1916. The company was located at 22nd and Dock Street in St. Louis. While vacationing near Lake Michigan in 1930, Hardy learned of the Robson Leather Company, an abandoned tannery with an adjoining salt well located in Manistee, Michigan. Hardy bought the tannery and built the Manistee Salt Works, a Hardy Salt Company subsidiary and manufacturer of all its salt."

Hardy sold the salt company in 1985. From this point on, the salt manufacturing plant changed hands several times before being repurposed. The site would later be occupied by Ambar Chemical, which was subsequently bought out by General Chemical.

The area is currently used by Seng's Crane and Excavating to store their aggregate rock.