I saw online that the property where the Hot Wells swimming pool used to be is now for sale. I wish I had an extra stash of money for this one. Hot Wells really is a piece of history, a place where memories were made, and a business rose and fell that, reportedly, could have brought fame to the town. It’s also a location where a sort of final sputter from the old ways got swallowed up by the new, a turning point in how things were versus how they are.

Now we swim in chlorinated pools, with chemicals in them that turn your hair green and probably shouldn’t be swallowed; back then, at least at this Brownwood resort, you swam in what amounted to sulfur water. Nevertheless, many claim to have experienced health benefits from the water, especially those with Rheumatoid Arthritis and other autoimmune conditions, and nearly everyone that remembers Hot Wells remembers swimming there as great fun.

“Own a piece of Brownwood history with this 18.15 acre property once known as the Hot Wells Swimming Pool,” the real estate ad says. “The Hot Wells Swimming Pool opened on May 21, 1921 and was used as an Artesian well for a therapeutic clinic. The possibilities for the property are endless! This property has an ag exemption and is located right outside the city limits for lower taxes. Build your dream home, enjoy a hunting retreat, or consider a commercial development.”

Health fads come and go, but often new ideas seem to eventually lead back around to the old ones. In the Victorian era, mineral baths like this one were all the rage. Aristocrats, and anyone else that could afford it, ‘took the waters’ at Bath in England, and the fad spread over to America. Where I grew up, in the mountains of Virginia, there’s a town called Hot Springs that was big in the day for its healing waters. Rich and famous people came from all over the world to soak at the springs and to carry a supply of the water back home in bottles. In studying what the Hot Wells facility was and how it came about, I found some interesting old recitations of the powers of its waters.

A November 1923 edition of the Brownwood Bulletin ran an ad for Hot Wells, describing the Brownwood mineral water resort as one of the “most attractive pleasure and health resorts in Texas.” “Chiefly it is a large swimming pool filled with hot sulfur water coming from a deep well which produces 12,000 barrels of water daily at a temperature of 112 degrees,” the ad states. “An analysis of this water by the State Chemist shows it to be 100 percent pure from a bacteriological standpoint. A comparative analysis with water of noted health resorts show it to possess similar properties, yet in stronger proportion.” The ad goes on to break down the minerals found in the water, noting sodium chloride, potassium chloride, and calcium sulfate to be largely responsible for the supposed curative powers of the pool. Locals who remember swimming there attest to one thing, and that is the sulfur content, joking that swimming there could make you smell in not the best way for some time afterward.

In June, 1932, the editor of the Brownwood Bulletin wrote an op ed regarding the citizen’s neglect of what he described as “Brownwood’s “biggest asset”, Hot Wells. “The medicinal qualities, their curative ingredients are ‘every bit’ as good as Mineral Wells, Texas; Caliente Springs, and Palm Springs, California,” the editor opined. “But, Hot Wells is not well known beyond a 100 mile radius of Brownwood. If it had the same advertisements as other health resorts, it would soon have the crowds. Then again, the Brownwood people must patronize more the entertainments that are given at Hot Wells.”

People still remember Hot Wells fondly. They recall a Mrs. Johnson who used to run the resort, and many halcyon days swimming there as kids. There is a documentation of a court case involving Dr. Johnson and the safety of the water at the resort, that took place in 1956. I hesitate to draw any conclusions about that episode myself, having watched and learned that the justice system can be used for purposes other than its original intent. I believe the resort offered bottled water as well, but I read that some time ago and was unable to retrieve that information to substantiate it. It wouldn’t be surprising, as bottling mineral water is one thing that has not gone out of style in the health conscious community.

Recollections of the pool at Hot Wells span up until the early 70s, as far I as I found, but I did not discover exactly when the pool closed or why. Apparently, at some point around this time, the well was capped, and the pool was subsequently filled in with concrete, perhaps intended as a final statement on the thing. Personally, I think there are likely some real benefits to soaking in and drinking water from hot springs, not to mention that natural water has its own power versus the swimming pool experience. ‘Taking the waters’ has gone out of fashion, but the rise in sales of things like “artesian water” and other designer bottled water products lends credence to the idea that the fad might soon experience a renaissance. If I had 225,000 dollars, I might give this one a go, try to start up the old well and see if there is a market for further development. My guess is that you could easily sell this stuff, despite how bad it smells, to health fanatics on Amazon. Heck, I might sip on some myself, just to see what it does.

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Diane Adams is a local journalist whose columns appear Thursdays on BrownwoodNews.com