A source for clean drinking
water is vitally important to all of us.
The ease with which most can find it is usually taken for granted. We walk into the kitchen, turn the faucet and
water comes pouring out. We open the
refrigerator and take out a cold bottle of water that we purchased at a
store.
Recently a friend posted an ad on
facebook for Pioneer Springs, an East Nashville Company that sold spring water
to Nashvillians in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries.
 |
| Nashville City Directory - 1918 |
Wanting to learn more I began
to research the subject of bottled water in Nashville. It was discovered that a number of
companies were providing bottled water for area citizens and a surprise to
learn that bottled water was sold in Nashville more than a hundred years ago.
 |
| Nashville City Directory - 1905 |
The early settlers decided to call this
place home, in part because of the abundance of water. The first fort erected at Nashborough, the
Bluff Station, was located on a high bank of the Cumberland river, near the beginning
of Church Street, because of a large spring, called the Bluff Spring, at that
spot. Church Street was originally
called Spring Street. As these pioneers
spread out to lay claim to tracts of land on which to live, finding a spring on
property of interest was a priority. It
was not much of a challenge. Davidson
County was covered with springs, both large and small. Many are still known today and some become
very evident after a large rainfall.
Some early springs were known by the
name of the landowner such as, Cockrill, Rains, Larkin and McNairy's Springs.
 |
| Nashville City Directory - 1905 |
Others were named because of special features
or acquired nicknames; Spout Spring, Deep Cave, Lockeland and Pioneer
Springs. McNairy's Spring came to be
known as Judge's Spring as the owner was a federal judge.
 |
| Nashville City Directory - 1907 |
There many springs and wells that provided
water, Buena Vista, White's Creek Spring, Crocker Spring, Spencer's Spring,
Fountain Blue, Sinkhole Spring, and Priestly Spring area few. A complete list would be very long.
 | |
| State Board of Health Bulletin:Tennessee - 1889 |
Advertisements from newspapers and other
published sources show that bottled water was sold in Nashville in the middle
1800's, often in drugstores. Some was
shipped in and Saratoga Spring water seems to have been a popular seller. Flavored mineral water was offered for sale
on special occasions and holidays.
 |
| Nashville American, June 4, 1870 |
In the densely populated
areas near downtown Nashville, outhouses were still in use. Ground water from springs and streams, had
long been polluted. At times the
quality of water provided to Nashvillians by the city water works was
questionable. Across the river,
East Nashville was a growing community without a city water supply. The
suburban neighborhoods of Maplewood, Rosebank, and Inglewood were being
developed and local community springs and backyard wells were often
contaminated. Lockeland Springs and
Pioneer Springs are two companies that offered a safe, clean alternative for
those who could afford it. East Nashville had more companies advertising
bottled water for sale than other areas of town.
 |
| Nashville Patriot, July 16, 1860 |
A 1909 report listed these springs as
operating in Davidson Counte.
1.
Buena
Vista.
2.
Burns
Epsom Lithia
3.
Deep
Cave
4.
Laconia
5.
Lockeland
(old)
6.
Richardson's
Lockeland
7.
Pioneer
8.
Sulphur
(old)
9.
Thompson's
Buena Vista Springs was located in the
community which carries that name today. It was a surprise to see two
Lockeland Springs listed, one designated as old and the other belonging to W. E.
Richardson. Pioneer Spring was along
Riverside Drive near Rosebank. Deep Cave
Spring was somewhere in the vicinity of Petway and Gallatin Road. The Sulphur
Spring was near Jefferson Street and 4th Avenue North. Thompson's Spring was on Stones River Road,
now Elm Hill Pike.
 |
| Nashville City Directory - 1915 |
Some Historical Springs in Davidson County;
French Lick Spring (near Jackson Street and Fourth)
Bluff Spring (Bluff of Cumberland River, south of
Nashville Public Square near Church Street at 1st Avenue North.
Popularly called Fort Nashboro in the 20th century.)
Spout Spring (Eastland Avenue, south side, near
Chapel Avenue.)
Whites Creek Spring (northern Davidson County.)
Rains Spring (near the intersection of Nolensville
Road and Rains Avenue.)
Judge Mcnairy's Spring (near Jackson Street and Seventh Avenue North.)
Wilson's Spring (near the new Nashville Convention
Center, between Shirley and Peabody Streets.)
Cockrill Springs (at Centennial Park, West End.)
Spencer Spring at Haysborough (near Spring Hill Cemetery, Madison, Davidson
County.)
Priestly Spring (near Two Rivers Golf Course and Briley
Parkway.)
Fountain Blue
(Near 908 Meridian Street.)
Sinkhole Spring (Near Ellington Parkway and
Cleveland Street.)
Sources:
Chronicles
of the Cumberland Settlers, Paul Clements, self published, 2012.
State
Board of Health Bulletin: Tennessee, 1889.
Mineral Resources of the United States, published by the United States
Government, Department of the Interior, 1922
Chronicling
America, Library of Congress - http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
Nashville City Directories – Ancestry.com
