You don’t hear much about them nowadays, but there are many mineral springs throughout the world that are said to have healing properties. As the springs travel through the earth’s surface, salts and sulfurs become dissolved. America has many springs that claim to have healing properties. One of the most famous is Georgia’s Warm Springs, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously bathed to treat his polio. But did you know we have our own healing springs in Connecticut?

Stafford Springs is a sparsely-populated village today, but it once was an attraction that people traveled hours to reach.
Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons
Native Americans praised the mineral waters. The Nipmuck tribe claimed that they were energized by the waters and that problems with their skin and eyes cleared up.
Doug Kerr/Flickr
By the mid-1700s, the springs were popular with colonists as well. It was said that the water in the spring could heal everything from gout to injured limbs to sterility.
The springs' first proponent was an East Windsor native who said the springs healed his itchy sores. Word spread quickly through colonial newspapers, and soon hundreds were gathering to bathe in the waters.
Jerauld A. Manter Photograph Collection/University of Connecticut Photograph Collection

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In 1766, a Boston physician purchased land intending to build a practice by the springs. He was killed in the Revolutionary War before having the chance to build his sanatorium.
August Schmelzer Company/Connecticut Historical Society
Future President John Adams traveled to the springs in hopes of lowering his stress.
John Trumbull/Wikimedia Commons
He wrote in his correspondence afterwards that dozens of others were using the springs at the same time. Adams said that he did seem to feel better after bathing in the water, but admitted this could have been from simply getting away from his family.
By 1896, the Stafford Springs craze had mostly died down. Nearby springs that featured alcohol and gambling had taken off instead.
Doug Kerr/Flickr
Stafford is now a sleepy town of around 5,000 instead of the tourist attraction it seemed destined to become.

Did you know about this healing spring in Connecticut? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Do you know of anywhere else in our home state that is said to have mystical or healing powers? You can nominate it for a feature on our nomination page.

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Stafford Springs, Stafford, CT 06076, USA