One of the pioneer industries in Union City was the salt industry. As early as 1850, in New Haven, later named Alvarado, salt deposits were gathered, and for a long time the entire County of Alameda depended on this supply. In 1862, John Quigley, a pioneer salt-maker of Alameda County, began operations as Quigley Salt Works in Alvarado (Union City.) The original process, in use to this day, consists of admitting salt water, with the rising tide, into segregated "vat" acreage. Any connection between the vats and outside water is severed; water in the vats is allowed to evaporte until the remaining chloride of sodium (salt) can be gathered.
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