St. Pierre Salt Company, located in Brusly, Louisiana, was formed in 1950 by Julian St. Pierre. The St. Pierre family owned 2,000 acres of land over huge salt deposits in West Baton Rouge Parish (County) which served as a source of salt, a vital raw material for the massive petrochemical industry located along the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. Since the company was first formed, petrochemical firms have repeatedly attempted to purchase large tracts of land from the St. Pierre family. At the insistence of Julian St. Pierre, however, the family has steadfastly refused to liquidate its extensive property holdings.

Julian St. Pierre, a World War II veteran, attended a prominent southern university on the G.I. Bill and majored in geology. In addition, he worked for a major oil company for two years. His primary interest, however, was the huge salt dome formations under his family's land. Government geologists predicted that the salt deposits were virtually inexhaustible. In 1948, St. Pierre secured a bank loan to build two brine wells. (Brine wells are used to dissolve the salt in the dome by pumping and circulating water through the dome.) After the walls were drilled, a local chemical plant signed a contract with St. Pierre to purchase brine from his field. The chemical firm secured a right-of-way and laid a pipeline from St. Pierre's wells, under the Mississippi River, to its complex located east of the river.

As St. Pierre received revenue from the chemical firm that purchased brine, he expanded his capacity to five wells. (Two additional water wells were required to service the five brine wells.) As the petrochemical complex expanded in the greater Baton Rouge area, the chemical firm that owned the pipeline began selling brine to other users in the area. Soon, all five wells were operating at capacity. Thereafter, St. Pierre drilled five additional brine wells and three supporting water wells, thereby doubling his capacity. Demand later stabilized at a level that could be satisfied from the brine of eight wells; consequently, two of St. Pierre's wells are kept in "reserve."