Salt pools discovered and developed here in 1862 led to a thriving business supplying salt by camel to mining mills in Virginia City. Until then, salt had been purchased from San Francisco at a rate between 120 and 180 dollars a ton. Sales remained strong until salt was discovered at Sand Springs in Churchill County and Rhodes could not compete in the Comstock market. The marsh still supplied salt to Aurora, Belleville, and Belmont. Borax was also mined here and shipped to California for processing. In 1882, the Carson Colorado Railroad was built through the area and moved tons of product to market.