Sampson’s Mineral Well: Water Color Drawing in Journal

Lower Part of the Page from Judy's Travel Journal Water Color Drawings of Sampson's Well Carthage, TN

When our daughter was young in the mid-seventies once or twice a month we would visit my husband’s mother and father in Carthage, Tennessee. Kelly would beg to stop at Sampson’s Mineral Well on the way back to Nashville. It was about 8 miles west of Carthage on Lebanon Hwy also know as Hwy 70 N. In a small store next to the pumps for the artesian mineral wells they sold sodas, candy, popcorn, and trinkets. Lew would have a big swig of the mineral water while Kelly and I looked on with amazement because the water smelled awful and looked worse.

This fun stop was in a small community called Rock City and before my time there had cabins, a large dining room and mineral springs and was a popular resort. Kelly and I would look in the windows of the closed and declining restaurant and it was still full of furniture and odd stuff from a former age.

I was thrilled to find the following postcards on the web at:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tnsmith/oldpics/postcard2.htm
On this website it says, “Mr. Sampson often stated if you used this water you
would live to be 100 years old. He died at age 102 years 11 months.”