Carlsbad Springs

During the first years of settlement, the area of the mineral springs was cleared of trees and later landscaped. Many of the original trees along the Russell Road were harvested to obtain income as settlers developed their homesteads. The surrounding areas remained densely wooded until settlement was complete. Sawmills operated near this site in the period 1854-1905. When the first stopping place was built, in 1852, this road was but a dirt track, with a wooden bridge across the Bear Brook., The original well houses were round. After the site was redesigned in 1908, five or six square well houses replaced the originals: the only surviving one is near the historical plaque. Water for the wells come from an underlying aquifer where it is forced upward by pressure from waters entering the ground at higher elevations beyond the road. This water may have travelled through bedrock for hundreds of years before surfacing in this area. The waters of the various wells tasted differently, and tests showed a variety of chemical properties. Hence the wells were given names such as Sulphur, Lithia Soda, Magic and Gas. Later, most of the springs were buried when the Russell Road was straightened and upgraded in the 1970s.