Whether it’s the sound of a babbling brook or the sight of waves crashing on a shoreline, the presence of flowing water can calm the mind and provide a sense of peace. It does for me, at least, but brooks and waves aren’t common around these parts. That’s why I love artesian wells! In addition to all the others I’ve talked about, I’ve been to two in northeastern Henry County, Indiana that sit about three miles apart.
Artesian wells require specific topographical requirements to flow without a pump. They tap into a confined aquifer, a geological term for water contained within an underground layer of rock. The water there is pressurized, so it rises up and flows out of the top of the well by itself. As long as the water table stays saturated, an artesian well will flow, and flow, and flow!
The wells get their name from the old province of Artois in France, where Carthusian monks were known to drill them in large quantities during the twelfth century. Around central Indiana, artesian wells are relics from the gas boom that occurred eight hundred years later. After the gas was exhausted, the shafts and casings of the old wells began to crack. That’s what happened near Middletown and Mechanicsburg.
The Deer Creek well
Along with several I’ve been to, the Deer Creek flowing well isn’t listed in the Indiana Geological and Water Survey’s Petroleum Database Management System. I would have never known it was an artesian well if it weren’t for someone on Facebook who tipped me off to its existence. It sits inconspicuously about eighty feet off the road on the edge of a pond.
I like a good pond I guess, but this one isn’t much to look at since most of it is covered in algae aside from the area immediately surrounding the well’s modern casing, which projects its water out in an arc. A pipe drains its contents to Deer Creek, and the well is accessed by a makeshift pier. Although its situated on private property, there were two areas to pull off nearby when I stopped to inspect it.
The Deer Creek well sits on land that was owned by the Swain family during the years leading up to the gas boom1. It’s about 925 feet above sea level, thirty-five to forty-five feet lower than the surrounding highlands2. The water table reaches those higher elevations, so water automatically flows up the well casing to reach the piezometric surface.
The science behind a flowing well sort of sounds like the explanation of those crazy gravity hill places where everything’s all topsy-turvy. No tourist-trap hokum transpires at the Deer Creek well, though, and finding it is easy if you want to see it for yourself. From Middletown, go west on State Road 236 to Mechanicsburg Road and turn left. You’ll cross Deer Creek in 2.6 miles, and the well sits just south of the stream. You’ll see the pond before you see the well; it’s about two hundred feet north of a small housing addition
The Pugsley well
I’ve been told there are at least two flowing wells in Middletown. I’ve only been to one, and it’s called the Pugsley Well. It appears on the Indiana Geological and Water Survey’s Petroleum Database Management System as an old gas well leased by the Summers family2. Today, signage on the shelter above it proclaims it as Pugsley’s Well after the man who restored it.
I plan to share this post on some Henry County Facebook pages, and I’m sure I’ll get the full story from some locals who know more than I do. Until then, closer inspection reveals that the well sits on Daniel Pugsley’s land at an elevation of about 935 feet3, just west of Middletown’s water treatment plant on South Eighth Street. The surrounding farmland is twenty-five to thirty-five feet higher than the well, and we all know that water seeks its own level. Up it flows.
By up, I mean that the water flows out, thanks to the unique curvature of the well casing. From its pavilion, water ultimately drains into Fall Creek, where it eventually meets up with water from the Deer Creek well. From there, the outflow travels through Pendleton, Geist Reservoir, and Indianapolis before it meets the White River just north of 10th Street.
Beyond the two flowing wells mentioned here, I’ve been to a third in Henry County. It’s just outside of Blountsville and is no longer safe to drink from. I’ve also heard of several others I haven’t been able to track down or secure permission to see, but these posts always bring good tips! I’ll keep writing as I find them. If you’re as into these wells as I am, check out my Artesian Well Map if you haven’t already.
Sources Cited
1 An illustrated historical atlas of Henry Co., Indiana / compiled, drawn & published from personal examinations & surveys by Higgins Belden & Co. (1875). Hidggins, Belden, & Co. [Chicago]. Map.
2 Henry County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2021). Parcel ID: 003-01164-00. Henry County, Indiana Assessor. map, New Castle, IN.
3 Well Events For IGWS ID: 158856 (2023). Well Record tables. The Indiana Geological & Water Survey. Indiana
4 Henry County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2021). Parcel ID: 003-02819-00. Henry County, Indiana Assessor. map, New Castle, IN.
