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The Springhouse
at the Hermitage historical site, Hermitage,
TN ,
USA
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Tennessee State
Historical Marker
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The Springhouse
Water for The Hermitage
Of all the enticements Tennessee offered settlers, one promised both survival and a future: Water. Falling from above, bubbling up from below, flowing in broad river ?highways?: Water.
Two natural free-flowing springs made The Hermitage a fine site for a farm, even without a coveted riverside location. This ?Gravelly Spring? provided abundant water for the Jacksons' simple log farmhouse and, later, the brick mansion. Jackson had the limestone springhouse built to shelter this precious fresh water supply in 1821, at the same time the first version of the mansion was finished.
An earlier log building described as a ?dairy? may have been located here as well. Until a well was dug near the mansion's back porch, enslaved workers had the chore of carrying gallons of water to the mansion every day.
What we take for granted with the turn of a faucet, in Jackson's time was prized, labor for, and?always?appreciated.
Erected by The Hermitage
Last updated: 2/14/2015 15:17:00 |
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