Nothing drives me nuts more than knowing about a flowing well I haven’t seen in person yet. Recently, I learned that four might be hiding within a two-and-a-half-mile radius of my house! I haven’t swung by to find them yet, but rest assured: I will. River deep or mountain high, I’m coming for them! I hope.
I’ve visited forty-four flowing wells across East-Central Indiana over the past decade, and they continue to amaze me. I’ve always thought that there was something magical about watching water burst up on its own with nary a pump in sight! The magic relies on a delicate underground balance where layers of pressure and rock guide water to the surface like a natural fountain.
Prospective Well #1
The first of the Yorktown flowing wells I haven’t seen yet is said to sit somewhere between Yorktown Elementary and the town’s Pleasant Hills addition. Back before the school went up in 1956, the area was home to an old strawboard factory1. Muncie newspaperman Dick Greene explored the area in 1952 and noted a flowing well with water trickling from a twenty-inch casing2. In the 1970s, students visited a smaller well that still stood nearby3. My aunt says she used to drink from it as a kid! I’m not one to trespass, but I might just have to do a little sleuthing in the area some weekend while school is out.
Prospective Well #2
The second flowing well near Yorktown I haven’t visited yet is one I already know exists- I’ve seen tantalizing photos! The well sits in the side yard of a house in Yorktown’s Beverly Heights addition4, and if you squint at aerial images just right, you can almost spot it. Unfortunately, I haven’t been lucky enough to spy it from the road. Like many, the well has been flowing for a long time- at least since the house next to it was built5. I haven’t been able to get in contact with its current owner, but I’m not giving up hope. One day, I’ll find a way to formally reach out. I’d love to see it up close.
Prospective Well #3
The same guy who tipped me off about the well in Beverly Heights also mentioned another. Apparently, it sits in a treeline about two hundred yards west of the neighborhood along the White River’s banks6. If he’s right, that would place it at the far edge of a twenty-acre field just northwest of Staylock Storage. It’s a stretch of land that most people probably drive past without a second thought. I’ve repeatedly done that myself, as a matter of fact! The land’s for sale now, so maybe I can contact the realtor to see if the well’s still there.
Prospective Well #4
I’ve got Facebook to thank again for learning about the fourth potential flowing well near Yorktown. Supposedly, it sits about a hundred yards east of Nebo Road off Gray Street in the Bradford Park addition7. That puts it right near the back of a vacant lot I drive past twice a day on my commute. How I’ve missed knowing about the well for so long is beyond me, but it appears to be accessible only by crossing private land. I don’t do that, but I’m not giving up that easily: between my inflatable boat, my drone, and an old camera with a ridiculous zoom lens, I’ve got options!
Hearing about four artesian wells I pass nearly every day is maddening. Knowing they’re right there, flowing just beyond the trees, behind fences, or tucked at the edge of fields makes them even harder to ignore. That said, I’m strongly against trespassing, and you should be, too. A canoe might be the best option to find some of these flowing wells. Still, if one of them sits on your land, I’d love to come by and see it!
Please?
Sources Cited
1 Strawboard Site’ Purchased for New Yorktown School. (2023, May 15). The Muncie Star, p. 1.
2 Greene, D. (1952, April 3). Seen and Heard in Our Neighborhood. The Muncie Star. p. 6.
3 Broadwater, L. Yorktown Indiana Historical Alliance (2015, August 9). There was a small flowing well back near the White River behind Pleasant Hills Addition (back in the 70’s). The [Comment]. Facebook.
4 Marhoefer, A. Yorktown Indiana Historical Alliance (2024, June 7). Here’s my well, it’s been constantly running for months now. The [Comment]. Facebook.
5 Meyer, L. Yorktown Indiana Historical Alliance (2024, June 7). I grew up in Anna’s house. That well has been running since before 1969 when my family built our house there. The [Comment]. Facebook.
6 (See footnote 5).
7 Meyer, L. Yorktown Indiana Historical Alliance (2024, August 25). The well in Beverly Heights addition is in the backyard at 917 Sarasota Dr. I grew up there and drank from [Comment]. Facebook.
There was a running spring in Greensboro for years. People came from all around to get water there in the 60s and 70s. At some point it was capped or something. Not sure I was living in New England at the time. If you want to find it, go to the Old store building in Greensboro, now a bait and tackle. Go down the hill toward the bridge and Duck creek. The last house, on the left before the bridge used to be a water powered mill. The second story was removed years and years ago and it was converted into a house. There was a spring in the side yard to the left of the driveway. It ran down to the creek. The old water path may still be there.
I’ve heard about that one before and tried to find it, but I didn’t have such precise instructions. I’ll try to go out this weekend!