Details for C.S.A. Saltpetre Mine
Historical Marker — Atlas Number 5463000600
Data
| Marker Number | 600 |
| Atlas Number | 5463000600 |
| Marker Title | C.S.A. Saltpetre Mine |
| Index Entry | Saltpetre Mine, C.S.A. |
| Address | FM 83 and 127 |
| City | Concan |
| County | Uvalde |
| UTM Zone | 14 |
| UTM Easting | 429920 |
| UTM Northing | 3263657 |
| Subject Codes | geology; Civil War; military topics |
| Marker Year | 1965 |
| Recorded Texas Historic Landmark | No |
| Marker Location | From Uvalde, take Highway 83 about 20 miles north to intersection with 127 South - marker fronts Highway 83 at intersection. Currently in temporary storage with TXDOT 11.13.19. |
| Private Property | No |
| Marker Condition | In Situ |
| Marker Size | 18" x 28" |
| Marker Text | Important to Texas in waging the Civil War. Site of natural deposits of bat guano, worked in the 1860s to obtain the chief ingredient for gunpowder. Cave inhabited by bats, source of the guano, extends about 23 miles. One room in the great bat den is 585' x 325', and has a 45' ceiling. A narrow gauge railway with mule drawn cars was used in the digging. Corrals for the mules occupied one chamber of the cave. Putrefied and dried bat guano, mixed with smaller parts of sulphur and charcoal, gave firepower to Civil War guns. 1965 |