Anybody Have One of These.....?

Pappy

Pappy

Living the Dream
Location
Moved back to NY from Florida. 🤓 2025
Having been raised in the country, on a rather steep hill, we always had a gravity fed spring house like the one in the picture. The water would come from natural springs and collect in the spring house. It was then fed to the house, also by gravity, or a few houses had water pumps in their cellars.

Every few years my Grandpa would have to drain it enough to climb down it and clean the goodies that had collected in the bottom. I would stand just outside and empty the bucket when he handed it up through the trap door. Lots of mud, leaves, bugs and sometimes a frog or two.

Grandpa said, with a smile, all these objects gave the water it's good spring flavor. I never gave it much thought and drank it for 16 years and it sure as hell tasted better than the stuff coming out of the taps today.

i remember a few summers when the springs pretty much dried up and things didn't get washed much and toilets got rather nasty too. Oh well, all part of country living. Wouldn't trade it for anything different today.
 

We had one on the farm, when I was a kid but it serviced the barn.

We had a separate spring-fed well for the house. Every spring, after the major rain/runoff had passed, dad would dump a gallon or two of clorox down the well. Mom would have already drawn enough water for drinking and saved up all the laundry for "flushing" the well.

24 hours after dad dumped the clorox, mom would do all the laundry, then we would could start drinking very delicious spring water from a well that was only 20' or 30
feet deep.

We just tore down the old spring house on this property but it had a pump in it. Mr. TWH wanted to pull the cement out and I put the slams to that as the original family's children's names and the date (early 1940's) are etched in that cement.

The well is still holding very clear water. It's way over on the other side of the property but, if the county water system ever puts us on rations, we at least know we can Mickey Mouse something and use it to water the horses.
 

Jean de Florette/Manon des Source


A duology, two French films about battle over water. Very, very good! Known as Manon of the Spring in English. You might relate...
 
I have a drilled well and have never run out of water. I remember my Grandmother's neighbor always had a big trout in the well to keep it clean. It worked like a charm but they had to check every day to make sure he was still alive. That fish lasted for a few years and got really big too.
 
Aw Phil, we need to get you out to the country for a week so you can see how the other half live. Nothing like shoveling horse poop and composting it for the garden; drinking well water and breathing fresh air to make you appreciate county life!!
 
You're so right, Tica. Nothing like the country - fresh air, well water with no flouride, surrounded by nature. :love_heart: I do complain about the inconvenience sometimes, but doubt I'd trade this for any big city anywhere.

Phil, you need to spend time in the woods!! :p
 
Phil, I think this year's vacation has just been planned for you:playful:

"Vacationing On The Senior Forum's Rural Circuit". This could make the original "Vacation" look tame:eek:nthego:
 
Yessiree Phil, come here for a visit. You ain't lived 'til you've shoveled a truckload of manure. And a body covered in poison ivy, ticks, and chiggers is bound to be good for your health.

I'll even let you have the fun of crawling through the garden pulling weeds. And mowing several acres and keeping the equipment working.

You'll never want to go back to the city.
 
rkunsaw said:
Yessiree Phil, come here for a visit. You ain't lived 'til you've shoveled a truckload of manure. And a body covered in poison ivy, ticks, and chiggers is bound to be good for your health.

I'll even let you have the fun of crawling through the garden pulling weeds. And mowing several acres and keeping the equipment working.

You'll never want to go back to the city.
Click to expand...

You nailed it Rkunsaw..I'm beginning to think us country folks are a bunch of masochists...so far this week, I've gotten chiggers, mowed several acres, two with a push mower that I abuse like a rolling weedeater, weeded and watered gardens , cursed equipment (that I abuse terribly, then curse), burned brush, pulled ticks off dogs, worked on drainage ditches to divert water running downhill trying to wash the driveway away, spread gravel....Whew!! How much fun can a girl have?

Yeah, come on down Phil. Always willing to share the fun!

As for the original question of this thread, I've never seen a spring house, but when I was a kid living in Tennessee, my relatives had an old cotton plantation that had a cistern that was the source of water for the house. I spent some summers there and always remember being warned not to get too close for fear of falling in.

Looking back now, that place was still a living part of the old south, as if time had stood still.
 
Well, I've started my vacation and I want to thank you all for your kind invites.

You can find an account of my first stop here.

Rkunsaw and Ozarkgal, keep a lamp burning for me - as soon as I'm out of the hospital I'll be heading your way.
 

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