Talk:Salter Path, North Carolina

Another possibility for where the name Salter Path comes from
Is it possible the origin of the name "Salter Path" is really just a folk etymology. When a place name is unknown, it is common to suggest the first thing that comes to mind. In this case, it is simple to assume there was a path to the house where some people named Salter lived. However, even in this entry, it suggests this is dubious: "although Riley Salter's true whereabouts during the 1880s has been questioned by historians." In fact, if true it would have been called Salter's Path. Salter-names have been prone to misinterpretation mainly due to the root word "salt" which suggests a link to NaCl. Historian Mary C. Higham provides evidence that places such as Salter Street, London, Saltley, UK, and even Salt Hill,UK derive their names from salters or deer-leaps, rather than salt or a person named Salter

Here, I suggest an alternative source for the name Salter Path.

A salter, or deer-leap, is a structure enabling and luring deer into an enclosed area but preventing them from leaving. They have been used since medieval times until the 19th century to populate "deer parks" of the rich and the monarchy.

A salter consists of a short ditch, with one side higher than the other. The high side is topped by a picket-style fence or palisade, while the low side is planted to attract deer. Because of the "one-way" nature of a salter, deer tend to accumulate within that area.Picture of a salter or deer-leap.

In the early United States, the idea of the wealthy enclosing a park, and entrapping all the deer was a very bad idea. The huge expanses in the New World made building large fences to encompass the deer was impractical. However, there is a special circumstance where a salter could be done cheaply and easily, a long narrow island. A fence from shore-to-shore with a salter in the middle of the island would tend to concentrate deer at one end while keeping them safely away from farms and crops at the other. Since there is a fence across the island, people go to the salter to cross to the deer side. Naturally, a well-worn path develops to the salter, as it is the only way to cross the fence.

It has always been known that salters were not a guarantee to control deer. Deer swim, though it is usually not their first choice of travel. And when they do, it is across from one shore to the shore, not out, around, and back to avoid a fence. Still there will be escapees, but deer will concentrate on one end of the island. Since there is a fence across the island, people go to the salter to cross to the deer side. Naturally, a well-worn path develops to the salter, as it is the only way to cross the fence.

It would be interesting to see if there is any surviving archeological evidence of such a fence and salter near Salter Path. It is interesting that there are three islands in Canada called Salter Island.

Chamblis (talk) 02:38, 10 June 2021 (UTC) Higham, Mary C. (12/3/2003). "'Take it with a pinch of Salt'". tandfonline.com. Retrieved 6/8/2021. Check date values in: |access-date= and |date= (help) Chamblis