Mineral springs gave rise to many communities in our area and some become vacation locations as well. A mineral springs existed near Bowman Cemetery in the Wawbeek area that led to the rise of the long lost town of Evansville. The Roberts community had a spring as well. Other communities such as Herrington, had a hotel centered around their mineral springs.
Sometimes the mineral springs were believed to hold medicinal benefits. Such was the case with the mineral springs at Canoe, Alabama. The springs had been a major source of free, pure water for the community since the inception of Canoe in the early 1850s.
Confederate and Union forces used the spring to water their horses and their men. Camp Hunter, a Confederate camp, was located within sight of the spring and Confederate pickets guarded the springs during the war.
Following the war, locals used the spring for water, eventually a gazebo was built over the spring and it became a site for various social gatherings. Mrs. Vivian Young once told this writer of going to the springs on Saturday mornings as a child and how local children would cook breakfast over a fire and enjoy the springs and socializing together at the waters.
Even earlier than Mrs. Young's recollections, the springs were commercialized, likely by Dr. Gordon. He was a veterinarian and a very progressive local farmer. He bricked the area around the spring, constructed concrete steps going down to the location and sold the mineral water to passersby. Of course, to take a drink it was always free but a five gallon bottle would cost the buyer a $2.25 premium for what was known as a "car-boy" bottle.
The Gordon Mineral Springs, as they were called during his time, were known far and wide. Newspapers in places like Camden and Claiborne ran a weekly ad for years and passenger trains would stop by the springs to allow travelers to drink from the waters.
One ad in the Monroe Journal read, "Take your auto full of friends and run down to Canoe, it will be a sensation. They come from fifty miles around to drink this fine water. Orders come from hundreds of miles around."
An Atmore Advance interview with an elderly lady, who was nearly 100 when interviewed more than a decade ago, recounted how her family had no well or other water supply other than the springs.
Mr. J.D. Page once recounted to this writer how popular the springs were in that earlier age and he too remembered people from many places stopping along the Highway 31 right of way near the Canoe Creek Bridge to drink the water.
In time the old spring was somewhat forgotten. The woods around the springs grew in and crowded out the majestic brick work that adorned the springs. Then in later years a logging crew damaged the structure. Yet in the woods beside Canoe Creek the gentle trickle of spring water continues to make its way down the bank and into the creek which eventually takes it on to the Escambia River and Escambia Bay in Pensacola.
May the old springs one day return to her former glory.
Shadows and Dust Volume III: Legacies is available for purchase in the amount of $30.00+$5.00 shipping and handling to PO Box 579 Atmore, AL 36502 or visit Lulu Publishing.com; Amazon.com, Barnes and Nobles.com OR at the Monroe County Heritage Museum in Monroeville, Alabama or by calling 251 294 0293.
