In early 1866, local entrepreneur Samuel Platt discovered the presence of brine while drilling for oil in the community.
In 1834, brothers William and Robert Dunlop named their settlement on the north shore of the Maitland River Gairbraid, after their mother's home in Dunbartonshire, Scotland.
A sample of the extracted salt brine was tested by an authority of the time, Professor Goessman, who said it was "the most concentrated possible and the purest known."
There were several thriving businesses including: MacEwan Salt Works Savage's brick yard The Crown and Anchor was the first tavern in Colbone Township established in ????.
Goldthorpe fruit evaporator plant (1909) Bisset's Creamery that supplied milk to urban communities throughout Ontario The Star newspaper October 7, 1909 - Page 1, Saltford has a fire Orr, Sandra (1993).