Spring Houses

When their property had a nice clear stream or water bubbling from underground, families in earlier times often built a spring house. This not only gave them a place to gather protected water but also a place to store foodstuffs that needed to be kept cool.

The spring house usually had water coming in from one end, it pooled in a small holding area, and then it left at the other end. My grandparents had such a spring house on their farm in Wilkes County, North Carolina. My great aunt and uncle had a similar setup in Watauga County, but their spring house was right beside the front porch, which gave easy access from the house. This water came from a nearby mountain and always stayed cold, even in the summer.

In my first historical novel set in the Appalachians, Cleared for Planting, Emma's family didn't have a spring house, like the Moretzes did. Instead, they build a little holding area at the edge of a mountain stream. However, spring houses became common for mountain and rural people. As Granny Em told in the second novel, Sown in Dark Soil, you'll never find any better tasting water.

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