History
Historic American Mineral Springs
Between roughly 1820 and 1930, mineral water built dozens of American towns. The bathhouses, grand hotels and bottling works that defined that era are mostly gone — but the springs themselves are still flowing.
The American spa era
By 1880 the U.S. had more than 600 named mineral spring resorts. The wealthy summered at Saratoga, White Sulphur Springs and Berkeley Springs; the middle class traveled to regional spas like Eureka Springs, Mineral Wells and Hot Springs. Bottling started as a souvenir trade and grew into a national industry.
The destination towns
- Saratoga Springs, NY — The flagship. Carbonated spring belt, Gilded Age hotels, race track.
- White Sulphur Springs, WV — Home of The Greenbrier; a presidential spa retreat since the 1830s.
- Hot Springs, AR — Federal reservation since 1832, national park since 1921.
- Berkeley Springs, WV — George Washington bathed here; America's first spa.
- Mineral Wells, TX — Baker Hotel, Crazy Water, the Texas spa boom.
- Eureka Springs, AR — Victorian Ozark spa town built around dozens of cold springs.
Why it ended
Prohibition and the Depression cut spa travel sharply. Modern medicine made mineral water cures less credible. Cars and air travel made faraway destinations easier than regional weeklong spa stays. By 1950 the American spa industry was a fraction of its peak — but the springs themselves never stopped flowing.
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