When Rochester was first a young settlement, its citizens relied on a number of springs for their fresh water needs.  One of the most important early springs was located within the original 100-Acre tract, the area which was destined to become the bustling heart of Rochester.  For many years, the spring was enjoyed by local natives as a camping site.  The years after settlement, however, would see this area become a dense and busy part of downtown–and would eventually witness the burial of the spring.

At the western end of a rocky ridge that skirted along the south side of Buffalo Street (now West Main Street) ran a brook which rose out of the freshwater Indian Spring to the south, flowing north-west to meet a branch adjoining the sulphur spring on Buffalo Street, then continued on through swamplands towards the Genesee River until it emptied into that river.

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Native Spring Use

The freshwater and sulphur spring were known well by the local Haudenosaunee peoples, and served as a place of rest, where travelers could bathe and celebrate.

The above map draws the historical paths that local natives used to travel between points of interest. This path followed the west bank of the Genesee along the course of present-day Plymouth Avenue, until it reached the Indian Spring. This was a popular place to set up camp, being near fresh water.

Some sources claim this was the location of “the sacrifice of the White Dog” [Content warning: animal death], whereas others cast doubt. In the end, it seems too much hearsay for definite inclusion beyond a footnote.

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Sulphur Spring Bath House

As attractive as the freshwater Indian Spring was to the natives and earliest settlers, its sulpherous companion spring along Buffalo Street (now West Main Street) was equally popular for its medicinal properties. The mineral waters were sought after as a restorative to sufferers of all sorts of skin maladies and other illnesses.

A bathing-house was erected over the spring in short order, the last building to the west before Buffalo Street became a log causeway over swampy forest.

The 1827 map denotes the location of the “sulphur bath” alongside numerous other landmarks.  The freshwater Indian Spring is no longer marked, and does not appear in any maps after this point.

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Bruff, in Brief

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Bathing House, cont’d

The public bath at the sulphur spring on Buffalo Street is mentioned in “Sketches of Rochester” published in 1838.  The text mentions a recent change in the source waters of the spring which had led to an influx of fresh water into the normally milky-white sulphurated water.

This change in water composition may have accounted for the loss of popularity and eventual abandonment of the spring. However, mentions are made of this establishment into the 1840s:

Robert K. Lothridge was a boat inspector who lived at No. 16/54 Elizabeth Street with his wife, Mary:

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Buried Waters

After the bathing house closed up, neither spring was much spoken of. They were no longer marked on maps, and were only mentioned when their unexpected waters disrupted everyday proceedings.

The above 1875 map shows a structure behind John H. Rochester’s properties that could be a spring-house, albeit for two small discrepencies: one; map sources showed the spring as being closer to Spring Street and two; an article from 1934 claims the limestone floor remained as a sidewalk block on Spring Street, suggesting the structure would have been built along Spring Street, not Plymouth.

The keen observer may note that the Erie Canal was cut across the course of the spring waterway between 1817 and 1825, dividing the freshwater Indian Spring from its northern headwaters and from the mineral spring on Buffalo Street. It seems during the construction of the canal, the springwater brook was culverted through “a sewer or conduit that came northward between the buildings of the Mechanics Institute and crossed under the canal bed on about the present line of Utah Alley.”

According to the article, construction workers encountered the buried spring twice during the 20th century: once, during the 1900 construction of the Eastman Building of the Mechanics Institute, and again during the deepening of the old Erie Canal bed in preparation for subway construction in 1922-1923, in the article below.

The leaky, damaged sewer which previously culverted the spring’s waters under the canal through Scott alley had to be replaced, and a larger sewer was constructed under Washington Street.

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The Locust Club

In 1921, the police patrolmen’s social organization “The Locust Club” purchased the old Washington house property for use as a clubhouse. Nobody in the press comments on the status of the spring.

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Flowing into the Present Day

According to the above 1936 article, a remnant of the limestone used in the floor of Col. Nathaniel Rochester’s “spring house” survived as a segment of the sidewalk on the south side of Spring Street.

One citizen’s ideas for the Indian Spring in response to the wave of urban renewal projects in 1965.  Quite evidently, neither this plan nor any like it came to fruition.

According to the above article, the limestone slab from the floor of Col. Rochester’s “spring house” was supposedly still in position as of 1979! One wonders when–or if–it was ever removed.

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It’s kind of sad to think that the trickling teat of sweet water which fed our infant city no longer flows freely.  I can only imagine what an evocative experience it would be to taste that same flavor of water those settler families did two centuries ago. I’d also love to see if that Buffalo Street mineral water could help soothe my mosquito bites. 

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