Estill's
Eternal Spring
by Ralph Barnes
The Estill County Tribune
June 17, 1998
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The mineral spring located at the base of Sweet Lick Mountain, known as Estill
Springs, is the most historic spot in Estill County. The spring probably was
flowing long before man came to the North American continent. In those
primordial times, vast herds of bison passed near the spring during their
annual migrations, creating a cleared path known as a buffalo trace. In time
the first humans crossed the land bridge that once connected Asia to Alaska and
eventually filtered down into the area that became the United States. The early
Indian tribes found it much easier to travel by following the old buffalo
traces. Consquently, one of the major Shawnee trails was the trace that passed
near the mineral spring. The Indians undoubtedly were the first humans to
refresh themselves with the iron-rich water that flowed from the old spring.
The first person of European ancestry to drink from the spring is thought to be
a French explorer who was traveling from Fort Detroit to a French outpost on
Mobile Bay years before Kentucky was settled. He described in his journal a
spot that matches perfectly the Sweet Lick area. According to the testimony of
Daniel Boone's son, Daniel also visited the site while encamped at Station Camp
during one of his early expeditions to Kentucky.
The water from the spring is heavily laced with sulfuric iron particles that
give it a unique taste and odor, something akin to rotten eggs. The early
pioneers reasoned that anything that tasted that bad must be good for you and
many people ascribed medicinal qualities to the water. Even today some people
swear by the medicinal benefits that are derived from drinking or bathing in
mineral waters.
It can be truthfully said that the old spring gave birth to Estill County,
since it was at the spring where the framers of the petition to form the county
met to work out the details for establishing the county.
Any telling of the history of Estill Springs would be incomplete without a
discussion of some of the fascinating people who have owned the property during
the last two centuries. The indigenous populations that first visited the site
had no concept of property ownership and believed that everything on Earth was
for the benefit of all the creatures on the planet. It was not until the
Europeans arrived and instituted their system of private ownership that the use
of the spring was restricted to those who held title to the property. The first
person with a deed to the property was a pioneer named Walter Welch, who had a
400 acre patent for the area where the spring and much of Irvine is sited.
Welch cleared the land and built the first cabin on the site. The property was
referred to as Welch's Settlement on early documents.
The Welch family sold the property to Green Clay in 1808. In addition to being
Estill County's largest landowner, Clay was a successful entrepreneur,
politician and soldier. The downtown section of Irvine is located on land that
Clay ceded to the city from the original Estill Springs property. Clay was a
surveyor by trade and came to Kentucky at the conclusion of the Revolutionary
War to claim land that had been awarded to him for military service. Surveyors
were much in demand during that period because settlers were flooding into
Kentucky to claim the property either awarded or sold to them by the new United
States Government. Due to inaccurate maps there was a great deal of confusion
as to the boundaries of many of the claims, thus creating a bonanza for lawyers
and surveyors. The litigation over conflicting land claims clogged the court
systems for many years following the settlement of the county. The going rate
for surveying a tract was half of the land surveyed. One can readily see how a
hardworking surveyor could rapidly accumulate large amounts of land. In
addition many mistakes left much land unclaimed. Since the surveyor was often
the only person aware of that situation, he would hastily make tracks to the
land office and claim the property for himself.
Being a true capitalist Clay was not quite happy with owning most of the land
in the county, he also owned most of the businesses and industry. Taverns,
brick kilns, ferries(including the one in Madison County still known as Clay's
Ferry), iron furnaces, distilleries, etc. were all part of Green Clay's
holdings. Clay also served as a representative in the Virginia Legislature
before Kentucky became a state and served several terms in the Kentucky
Legislature after the state was formed, rising to the rank of Speaker of the
senate. During the War of 1812, he served as a Major General and successfully
led a force of 600 Kentuckians in the relief of Fort Meigs in northern Ohio.
After the War of 1812 ended, Irvine became a boom town and was the primary
gateway to all of Eastern Kentucky. Clay decided there was money to be made by
providing a place to eat and sleep for all of the people passing through the
town. He built two inns to accommodate the demand. The first was constructed
near the Courthouse and the second near the spring that Clay named and promoted
as the Sweet Spring (The site was not referred to as Estill Springs until
slightly before the Civil War). The first mention of the Spring as a resort was
in 1814. Clay ran an advertisement in the Lexington reporter on October 1,1814
advertising taverns (inns) to rent at the Estill Court House and the Sweet
Spring. The accommodations were described as being new, large and well
furnished. The ad went on to say that a great number of people visited the
springs. The announcement pointed out that the spa was located only a half mile
from the Court House where all the leading roads to the upper country (eastern
Kentucky) intersected, making these very valuable locations for public housing.
Green Clay's heirs sold the Springs property to Isaac Mize, a prominent Irvine
civic and business leader. The property then passed through several owners
until it was acquired by John Chiles in 1848. Chiles saw the potential for
turning the site into a first class spa and built the first large hotel on the
site and changed the name of the spa from Sweet Springs to Estill Springs.
Prior to Chiles's time there was only a small inn on the site. This was the
period in American history when plush spas were very popular vacation spots for
the wealthy. The newly remodeled spa became a regional favorite for Southern
planters and other wealthy residents of the area. The resort grew into a 120
room main hotel plus several cottages. It boasted the largest ballroom in the
state, tennis courts, riding stables, bowling alleys, billiard parlors and
beautifully landscaped grounds. Most of the food served in the sumptuous dining
rooms was grown on the property. The Estill Springs Spa was in a class with the
most elegant spas in the country and its clientele included such famous
personages as Henry Clay and John C. Breckenridge.
Sidney M. Barnes acquired the Springs property in 1859. Barnes probably was the
most prominent person ever born in Estill County. He, like Green Clay, was a
man for all seasons. He was a lawyer, businessman, soldier, politician and
served in the Federal judiciary. Sidney was born to John and Milly Hulan Barnes
in 1821. John Barnes was an attorney and one of the first Clerks for the Estill
County. He and Milly died during a typhoid epidemic while Sidney and his
brother Thomas were still tots. The boys were raised by an uncle in Montgomery
County, but Sidney returned to Irvine as a young man and became a very
successful Attorney.
Not long after Barnes acquired Estill Springs the Country was rent asunder by
the forces that eventually resulted in a civil war between the northern free
states and the slave owning states in the south. Sidney, being a patriotic
American, was a strong supporter of the Union and rallied to the side of the
Union forces. Shortly after the beginning of hostilities Sidney volunteered his
services to the U. S. Army. He then set about the Herculean task of recruiting,
arming and training a regiment of 600 local men. He was a good stump speaker
and traveled about the area and within a short period had recruited the
required number of enlistees. He used Estill Springs to house the troops during
the regiment's formation and initial training. The unit, comprised primarily of
volunteers from Estill and neighboring counties, was designated the Eighth
Kentucky Infantry Regiment. The volunteer soldiers acquitted themselves in an
exemplary manner during the battle for Lookout Mountain. They were the first
troops to scale the mountain and plant the American flag on the summit. The
Barnes estate was briefly occupied by John Hunt Morgan's men during the War.
The Rebel stay proved to be very costly to Sidney Barnes and his family. The
Rebels confiscated or destroyed a great deal property while occupying the
estate.
After the war Sidney returned to Irvine and ran for Governor, coming in second
in a three candidate race. According to Judge Riddle, the greatest political
debate in Kentucky's history took place at the Estill Springs Hotel. The
debaters were Sidney Barnes and John Helm during the Governor's race in 1867.
The Barnes family left Estill county and moved to Arkansas where Sidney was
appointed Prosecuting Attorney for the Territory of New Mexico by President
Hayes.
Sidney Barnes sold Estill Springs to a group of oil prospectors from
Pennsylvania who drilled unsuccessfully for oil on the property.
The prime time for the resort was during the Gay Nineties when spas were much
in demand. Estill Springs was among the more elegant spas in the country and
the rich and famous flocked to Estill County to partake of the miraculous
waters that flowed from the ancient well head. Even John Hunt Morgan's men who
had defiled the pristine splendor of the site during the Civil War returned to
the resort for their annual reunions.
The property passed through several hands during the declining years of the
grand old spa. The site was acquired by Harvey Riddle, brother of Judge Hugh
Riddle, after the World War I and he sold housing lots off the portion that
became known as Estill Springs Addition. The great hotel burned to the ground
on December 14, 1924. Befittingly the conflagration that consumed the facility
was the most spectacular fire ever to occur in Estill County. The blaze was so
high and the heat so intense that the efforts of the fire departments from
Irvine and Ravenna were rendered useless.
Dr. Hume who operated a hospital in the old River View Hotel owned the property
briefly before selling it to Lena Wallace, who built a private residence on the
site. In the end the historic property succumbed to the bane of modern America
and became a housing development.
Sometimes when a heavy mist enshrouds Sweet Lick Mountain imaginative souls can
faintly detect the lilting strains of a graceful waltz emanating from the ashes
of the old ballroom. The dim echoes of the thundering hooves of ghostly buffalo
herds intermingled with the muffled war whoops of vanquished Shawnee Warriors
also reverberate among the hills on foggy nights. Listen carefully and you can
even hear the voices of our long dead ancestors as they toiled to mold Estill
County. Tread reverently when you near the historic fountain for within this
eternal spring lies the very heart and soul of our beloved homeland.
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