White Sulfur Springs Ruins

White Sulfur Springs

The White Sulfur Springs Ruins was a former bathhouse in the town of White Springs, located in Hamilton County, Florida, on the Suwannee River. The Suwannee River once marked the boundary between the Timucuan people to the east and the Apalachee to the west. When Spanish explorers arrived in the 1530s, Native tribes from both sides of the river would visit the spring, believing its waters held healing properties. The spring was regarded as a sacred healing site by the Native Americans and was respected even during times of conflict—any tribe member could safely drink from or bathe in the mineral-rich waters without fear of attack. The spring’s distinctive “rotten egg” odor is due to dissolved hydrogen sulfide gas.

“Jackson Springs” was incorporated in 1831 by businessmen Joseph Gordon Bryant, James Tarpley Hooker, and his brother William Brinton Hooker, John Lee, and James D. Prevatt, with plans to develop the spring and establish a ferry service across the Suwannee River.

The following year, cotton plantation owners Bryant and Elizabeth Sheffield purchased the ferry operation rights and the spring, then known as “White Sulphur Springs.” The spring’s mineral water was marketed as a cure for nervousness, kidney troubles, and rheumatism, among other problems. In 1842, a spring house and hotel were constructed from local timber and was called “Upper Mineral Springs,” considered by many as Florida’s first tourist attraction.

The Civil War and the Reconstruction period that followed halted the town’s growing tourism industry. However, in the 1880s, Florida experienced a surge of visitors, drawn by the popularity of “taking the waters” at the state’s many mineral springs. In 1882, Georgia merchants Wight and Powell purchased the property and platted city lots. They sold parcels to other retailers to open businesses catering to plantations and resorts around the spring. Crowds of health seekers arrived, first by stagecoach and then by railroad.

The Town of White Springs was incorporated in 1885, and soon after, fourteen luxury hotels, numerous boarding houses, and modern amenities developed around the springs. A cotton gin attracted buyers and sellers, while fashionable clothing and hats were available for purchase. Visitors enjoyed leisure activities such as ballroom dancing, lawn tennis, and skating.

White Sulfur Springs Bathhouse

In 1903, the spring was enclosed by concrete and coquina walls that included multiple water gates and galleries to ensure the purity of spring water unpolluted by the rise and fall of the adjacent Suwannee River. A four-story bathhouse was constructed around the spring. Jacksonville architects Alfred E. McClure and George O. Holmes designed the structure for owner Minnie Mosher Jackson. It featured doctors’ offices for patient examination and treatment, dressing rooms, concessions areas, and even an elevator. At the time, water flow was calculated at 32,400 gallons per minute or nearly 47 million gallons per day.

Decline

By the end of the 1920s, medical experts began switching from the “water cures” touted at mineral spring spas and resorts to more modern treatments and prescription drugs. Bathing in these springs also fell out of favor in the United States during the 1930s. With the decline of White Sulfur Springs, so did the town of White Springs. Of the fourteen luxury hotels, only the Telford Hotel remains. Through the 1980s, water flow at the spring declined to the point when it ceased flowing in 1990.

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