Last week, I posted about rainwater harvesting and included a photo of our cistern. I didn't describe the cistern much in that post. It is undergound right along the crawlspace foundation of our kitchen. It is perfectly round and made of bricks and mortar.
At some point in the distant past, there was an artesian well and a springhouse in the vicinity of this cistern. This is according to our 80+ year old neighbor whose grandparents built our house in 1890. She doesn't remember the exact location, just that it was on the east side of the house. The cistern is likewise on the eastern side and so I wonder if the cistern was used to store water from the spring.
A springhouse was used in the days before refrigeration. For those farmsteads blessed with a flowing spring, a springhouse was built to direct the springwater through channels or troughs built into the house. Milk, cream, butter, etc. could then be put into the water and kept at a constant 50 degrees or so.
At some point in the history of our home, one of the previous owners (who was perhaps the most shortsighted human being to ever draw breath in Morrow County, Ohio) tore down the springhouse and bulldozed the artesian well. What a treasure it would be to find that spring, dig it out and get it to flow once again!
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