The Springs of Springboro

June 21st we headed up to Ohio for Scarlett’s surgery on the 24th. Before that the Meester boys had a bunch of baseball games that weekend. In three different locations! My assignment on Saturday was to take Drew to his games in Xenia, 30 minutes or so from Springboro. After his first game we went into town for something to eat and then had to hang around for a few hours before his next game. We found Xenia fascinating so while we were waiting we Googled “Xenia”. That was interesting. Then we Googled several other towns, including Springboro. We learned that Springboro was so named because of the abundance of underground springs in the area. We decided we wanted to look into this, as in, see one of these springs. Meanwhile we had other adventures that are not part of this story.

Monday morning, the day of the surgery, while we awaited word from Cincinnati, we spent an hour doing further research on these springs. It was both interesting and frustrating. We learned that southwest Ohio is a plateau; that the two main river valleys in this area are the Ohio River valley and the Miami River Valley; Springboro was founded in 1815 as a Quaker Community by Jonathan Wright of Pennsylvania; the people wanted to call it Wrightstown but he declined and proposed “Springborough” in reference to the numerous underground springs found in the area. In fact, we found numerous references to the "abundant and fresh springs" in the area. We searched and searched for the source of this reference. That was frustrating, it was as if they were quoting each other. We decided to walk uptown and investigate.

Yes, walk to downtown Springboro. It’s only one and a half miles. We set off.

We headed straight to the Springboro Historical Society. They were closed! Only open Friday and Saturday. In fact, at least half of downtown Springboro was closed. So we headed to the Chamber of Commerce, hoping they were open. They were!

We went in. The man greeted us and asked, “What can I do for you?” So I explained, “We have been researching the underground springs they found around here when they founded Springboro. We want to see one. Can you tell us where we might find one?”

He started to answer, then hesitated, “I’m sorry, I thought you were asking about the underground railroad [the underground railroad is a big part of Springboro’s history]. Underground springs? Let me look.” He went to his computer and Googled it! We told him we had already done that but he persisted. Every site he found we said, “Yep, saw that.” It was clear he didn’t know much. He did remember that a recently renovated house across the street had a spring in it, but they had covered it over. He also told us about the Wright house [founder of the town] and where it was, so we thanked him and set off for the Wright House.

Meanwhile, I decided to stop at every open business along the way. Drew was taken aback a little by my plan, “Are you really going to ask everyone you meet?” “Sure!” But he thought it was exciting, saying something like, “I like it when you come to town.” Ha!

First place we came to (that was open) was Magnolias on Main. We went in and I approached the lady there, “Hello! I have probably the strangest question you’ve ever been asked…” and I proceeded to ask about the underground springs of Springboro. “You sure you don’t want to know about the Underground Railroad?” I said, Not now. Turns out she was a school teacher who was prepared to tell us about the railroad but not the springs. But she did recollect that there was a building just up the road that used to have a well inside it, McCarthy Wealth and Tax Advisors. Bingo! We thanked her and headed that way.

We got to McCarthy, told the receptionist we had a really odd question and asked her if they had a well in the building. She replied, “A well? No. We used to have a big hole in the ground, but they covered it.” So close and yet no cigar! We thanked her and made our way to the Wright House.

We got there, admired the house for a moment then knocked on the front door. “Hello, I’m Jeff and this is Drew…” and then explained that we were looking for just one of the famous springs of Springboro and did he know where we might find one.” This guy knew stuff! He told us the springs were water close to the surface, easily accessible, and all over the place. They had one in the back. Oh we were excited! “Can we see it?” He led us around to a side porch:

“Used to be right here. The servants would come to it and draw water. We covered it over a while back.” Yep, that porch is the site of a spring. So close only to be covered over. They used some kind of pump but gave it to the neighbor when they covered the spring. We knocked on the neighbor’s door, but no one was home. Oh so close only to thwarted once more.

We did enjoy our time though, and learned a lot about Springboro. They are really big on their part in the Underground Railroad, which made one discovery even more amazing.

Drew and I saw two of these statues on the property of the Wright House. We were flabbergasted. Here is a town that celebrates its history as a central part of the underground railroad, yet the town founder’s house has Black Sambo statues! (I did not take this photo. I admit I was too shocked to take it.) We wondered about the ‘servants’ he mentioned.

On the way back to the house I got the phone call – “Scarlett’s surgery went well. She is in recovery and about to go to her room.” Overall, a great morning!