A few weeks ago, a friend told me that she’d heard the old Lennington flowing well southwest of Yorktown had been destroyed and wasn’t flowing anymore. The news was alarming! Even though I knew much of its casing had been broken off by vandals in the 1970s, I was still curious. I hoped it still flowed, so I stopped by to take a closer look.
I’ve written about the Lennington well a few times now, but this latest visit felt different. The last time I stopped by was back in March, when the flow looked about the same as it always had. Unfortunately, visiting in May is a completely different story. The well might still be flowing just fine, but good luck spotting it: by late spring, it’s a game of hide and seek! The well is impossible to see from the road.
The same friend who alerted me to the Lennington well’s destruction was curious to see it for herself. I shared everything I could- directions, landmarks, the whole nine yards. Still, she came up empty. The next day, I decided to head out and check for myself. The only clue that anything’s hidden in those dense woods is a narrow path winding through the overgrowth, just wide enough to make you wonder what might be at the end.
The path opens up once you’re in it, and the Lennington well sits about twenty feet back. I was pleased to find it still flowing as it has for fifty years or more. The rumors were wrong! The well creates a pool that eventually flows down the bank to drain into the White River. Crisis averted!
I’ve always hesitated to give the coordinates of the old Lennington well. It’s been damaged before, and it could be easily ruined by modern vandals as well. The other part of my reticence is that I’m unsure of its exact location. The Lennington well is like one of those crazy pirate islands you can only rediscover after you’ve been there the first time.
Maybe that’s part of the magic. The Lennington well isn’t marked with signs or parking lots or picnic shelters. Instead, it’s just there, quietly flowing in the undergrowth like it has since the Gas Boom days. You don’t stumble across it unless you’re looking, and even then, it might take a second try. For those who find it, though, something is reassuring about its persistence. I’m glad it’s still flowing.
