Spring structure

schmism · Aug 11, 2012

So our current property is an old farmstead from 1910. (house, barn has a chiseled date cornerstone of 1914)

Indoor plumbing wasnt until the 20's to 30's and rural electrification wasn't untill mid thirties. so the house predates both. As such the property came with

1) a cistern next to the house with hand pump. all the gutters from the house were at one point plumbed to this cistern via clay tile. (most have been otherwise changed sense)
2) foundation /pit for the outhouse (about 10 yards down the hill from the east porch)
3) an entire brick (including concrete roof) smoke house
4) round windmill base with adjacent 35' deep hand dug brick lined well (still functional) with adjacent pump pit (15' deep brick lined)
5) several fruit trees

One of the old kids that grew up here that we brought the property from stopped by the other day... mentioned something about the
6) spring structure on the far side of the property?!?!

So we went looking for it yesterday.

Cut trails with the tractor, mostly bulldozing my way through the underbrush and saplings and downed trees (didnt feel like putting on the brush hog.

So you may have heard about the extreamly dry weather we have had here in IL. record like drought, going to have craptastic corn and beens this year... and even with the record dry/hot weather.... the spring structure still had 4" of fresh water and a small pool infront of it with very soft mud surrounding it (the dogs sank up to there knees trying to get to the small pool of water.

(bla bla bla... enough with the chat to the PICS!)

yes it sits at the base of a hill.

on a side note, high dynamic range pics in the middle of the woods are a WITCH to take! my poor old camera does a crappy job at best

TCJatko · Aug 11, 2012

A great find; I'm betting the previous tenants used this to keep the milk cool before that new-fangled invention the icebox. The old timers sure knew about recycling too, the handle for the cover looks to be made from an old section of sink trap.

schmism · Aug 11, 2012

oh so its a bit more clear the purple arrow points to the top of the structure, the blue circle is the "puddle" area that is wet right in front. and the creek has been dry for about 2 months.

tnmike · Aug 11, 2012

Nice. It begs to be developed into a usable water source.

Localmotion · Aug 11, 2012

Spot on find :thumbsup: Wish we had one here....!

Any chance of piping it back to the house? If it is a raw spring, should be great water.

forgeblast · Aug 11, 2012

Wow nice find.

rswyan · Aug 12, 2012

Very cool .... wish we had one here.

schmism · Aug 12, 2012

certainly needs developing.... but its on the far side of the property deep in the woods and on the other side of the creek.

Id have to clear a significant area to get enough sun for a solar pump.
I suppose if i trenched a poly line across the creek and through the woods all the way back to the barn (1000+ feet) i could lay a wire in that trench but thats a LONG run.....
I could lay the poly and include a 12v pump and just run out there with the tractor or 4wheeler and run the pump when i wanted to use the water (aka water the garden, water the animals etc)
I could develop it place a 12v pump and run out to it with a 250 gal poly tank on the tractor and fill it then take it back to the barn/garden for use.... (avoiding the poly run)

If you look at the areal from 1939 the entire 5 acer lot was clear of woods. (were as today its about 4 woods 1 "yard") I was told they raised dary cows on the property in the walkout basement of our barn. (still has the old animal stalls etc)