Not long ago, a reader asked if I’d ever been out to see the flowing well near Sulphur Springs in rural Henry County. To my surprise, not only had I never been- I’d never even heard of it! The message was all the excuse I needed for a quick trip down south. Wondering if I’d see the sulphur spring of Sulphur Springs, I set out to find it for myself the very next weekend. Unfortunately, I stumbled onto something I hadn’t expected.
I’m always game to check out a new-to-me artesian well. I can’t help but obsess about them! Most of East-Central Indiana’s began life as gas wells drilled back in the 1890s. Unfortunately, the natural gas boom was short-lived since we burned through most of the supply in just a couple of decades. By around 1910, the party was over! Many of the dry wells were abandoned or left orphaned, but something unexpected happened in a handful of spots where the geology was just right: water began bubbling up instead!
I’ve tracked down quite a few artesian wells, but they’re still a rare find. Out of the countless gas wells once scattered across Indiana, I’d wager that much fewer than one percent ever made the leap from spouting flambeaus to flowing water. The one I’d been told about appeared to sit under a pavilion near the crux of Sulphur Springs Road and County Road 200-West. It was a pleasant drive through the town of 331 residents before the countryside took over. Before long, I spied a little kiosk rising from the horizon.
I hopped out of the car for a better look. Underneath, I saw what appeared to be a pump. There was no flowing water, so I started to work the handle. I pumped fifteen times, then thirty, and heard the cylinder doing its thing underneath the cement pad the pump stood on. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear any water. I thought about priming it with my bottle of Propel, but I wasn’t really there to see a pump; I’d driven deep into rural Henry County to find a flowing well.
As I headed back to the car, I noted a plaque mounted near the top of the pavilion that dedicated the scenic spot to Sam and Phyllis Neal. It’s a touching tribute to the Neals, whoever they were! What I really wished for, though, was another flowing well to add to my list. Unfortunately, it must have disappeared long before I came looking. Oh well. You can’t win them all!
