Minnehaha Springs is an unincorporated community located in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, United States. It was named for the fictional Native American “princess,” Minnehaha, and the mineral springs on the Lockridge farm. It is the only community with this name in the United States 1.
Reportedly, residents found Indian relics near the mineral springs in the region, which is why it was named Minnehaha, after a Native American maiden. Thermal springs were often sacred places for Native Americans, and they believed in the healing powers of the water 1.
The Lockridge family found the Minnehaha springs on their farmland, and they tested the water first in 1891 and then again in 1910. The results revealed that the water had similar chemical characteristics to the water of the Hot Springs in Bath County, Virginia and of Bethesda Spring in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The Lockridge family created the Pocahontas Mineral Water Development Company and began selling bottled mineral water. The water was advertised as “pure” with “medicinal virtue,” and the advertisement promised that “the most delicate stomach can retain it.” The spring’s waters were used to aid with eczema, diabetes, and all forms of Bright’s disease. The spring water was found to be abundant with silica and calcium carbonate 1.
In 1900, a new railroad station in Marlinton placed Minnehaha Springs in a more accessible position for travelers and tourists. In order to attract tourists, spring resorts and tourist resorts in general had to be easy-to-get-to. In the nineteenth century, spring proprietors were involved in transportation improvements within their surrounding area. They lobbied for the development of railroads, turnpikes, river networks, and canals. Sometimes spring proprietors would work directly with railroad companies to establish rail stations within close distance of their resorts 1.
