Avery Island is the top of a salt dome poking out of the bayous of the Mississippi River Delta, about 140 miles west of New Orleans, Louisiana. From a massive salt layer a mile and a half beneath the surface, the dome penetrates through the intervening rock layers to support a small area of non-swampy ground. Far beneath the town, but only scratching the top of the salt dome, there is a massive salt mine operated by Cargill Corporation.
However, Avery Island is most famous for something that happens on the surface: The home of the McIlhenny family and their Tabasco Sauce factory.