There was a large spring of water in this area where the public stopped to water their horses from the 1850s to the 1920s. People on horseback or in wagons coming and going from Slaterville to Five Points liked to stop at this spring on the north side of 2nd to water their horses and get drink for themselves. There were as many as five springs in today’s Fort Bingham area that furnished good fresh water. [1]
In the Nineteenth Century, the schoolhouse was always located near a good spring. Pupils took turns cleaning out the spring each day. The pupil who cleaned out the spring had to put his arm in the water and dig out the dirt that had collected in the spring during the day with his hand. He had to bank the dirt around the sides so that the flow would be better, and by doing this after school, by the next day the water would be clear for the pupils to drink. [2]
[1] - Autobiography of Sarah Stone Crowther, manuscript, typed 1959 by Macel Stone Montgomery; interview Chauncey Stone by Macel Stone Montgomery,1958, p. 1.
[2] - Autobiography of Mary Elizabeth Hutchens Sherner, transcribed by Dorothy Sherner, Mary Elizabeth-Her Stories, manuscript, 1933, p. 72.