Healing Springs

I love having adventures in rural Southwest Alabama. It’s fun to discover new places that are interesting in our area. Yesterday I went to Healing Springs. It is located in north Washington County near Millry. It has been rumored to have healing powers since an Indian Chief discovered them three hundred years ago. He had a running sore on his leg that nothing would cure. He took some of the mineral sludge that is in the runoff around the spring and rubbed it on the sore. He was cured. Since then, there have been scores of miraculous healings of all kinds. Whether they are true or not, most of the residents of the area believe. They come at all hours to collect the water to drink. The gates are open to the public during all the daylight hours. There is a man who lives on the site of the ruins of the old hotel and springs who leaves the gate open when he goes to work, then closes it at night. Virginia Radley, the owner of the Healing Springs property has a house on the property that she visits frequently. She tells of the man who came by just a few nights ago about ten o’clock. The gates were locked and he blew his car horn to get somebody’s attention. He had driven from Quitman, Mississippi to get water. When told that the springs were open only in daylight hours, he said “You don’t understand. I just got off from work and came straight here. My whole family drinks this water for their heath, including my elderly mother. She depends on this water.” He was allowed to get the water, but told in the future, he would have to make other arrangements.

Healing Springs was once a thriving resort in the early part of the 20th Century. People came by train to stay at the hotel and drink the water. There were originally 33 springs which dwindled to 17. There are now three that overflow and are operational. They are designated as being for different conditions

There is the Mound Spring which is for female diseases as well as dyspepsia, indigestion, stomach troubles, eczema, old sores and skin diseases. This is the spring that Dr. Knight, the dentist who was the father of the present owner benefited from when he came with a stomach ulcer in the early part of the last century to take a cure. He was cured in 6 weeks. He vowed when he left to return and buy the springs, which he did.

The Creek Spring is designated for kidney, bladder, urinary ailments, and Bright’s Disease.

The Iron Spring is for instantaneous relief of chronic constipation, piles, chills, malaria fevers and as a blood builder.

I took home two bottles of the Mound Spring water. Virginia gave me two old glass half gallon bottles to fill at the spring. She said her mother always thought glass was a better preserver of the natural state of the water than was plastic. The water is quite tasty. There has been some discussion of bottling it for sale. However, as the water sits, the minerals in it settle to the bottom of the container forming the same rusty residue that the Indian Chief used to cure his sore. In bottled water, the water is purified of substances, then minerals are added to enhance flavor. The whole point of these waters are the original mineral content, so further methods need to be sought before it would ever be commercially bottled. In the meantime, anyone can stop by and get the waters for free if they bring their own containers. The owner intends to keep the property open to the public for free as long as she can.

Going to visit Healing Springs is part of a neat package of several things to see in the area. There is a completely restored train caboose located in downtown Millry. It is located directly beneath a large American Flag flying overhead. This was designated by Jackie Sims of Mobile as a memorial to her deceased husband. There are two other attractions in the immediate area. One is the Emmett Woods State Lake for birding and fishing. The other is a new attraction. There is a racecourse located down the same road that passes Healing Springs.
It will feature sulky racing. There will be a regular schedule of racing events on the weekends as the facility progress. Now visitors can ride down to see the horses and visit with the owners.

It’s neat to discover new things to do in your own backyard. It’s also neat to travel off the beaten path into rural Southwest Alabama to visit unusual scenic attractions.
There are a number of interesting places to eat along the way. In nearby Silas there is Dee Doc’s which has fried seafood and steaks, There is Bimbo’s which serves homemade pizzas from scratch from an old family recipe as well as American selections. There is Bobby’s Fish Camp on the river between Silas and Coffeeville that specialized in fried catfish and hushpuppies. In Millry, there is fast food to be had at the local convenience store. In Chatom, there are three restaurants offering a meat and three with sweet tea, the local lunch specialty. As you know, food is very important to me. I don’t want to go anywhere without knowing what I can eat. However, the real nutrients of this trip are found in the water, not just the food.