During the early 1800s, if sulphur spring water was found when establishing sources of waterpower, or a well for drinking water, opportunities opened up for enterprising people of that era.

For instance, in 1825, David Eldredge opened up a boarding house in today’s Sharon Springs after some of this "healthy water" was discovered. American Indians held great respect for the healing powers in these sulphur waters.

By the mid-1830s, Sharon Springs became a resort destination. Richfield and Saratoga Springs also became popular, all because of the water.

So one can only imagine the talk around Oneonta in 1871 when a new well in the village produced this precious water of high mineral content.

An editor of the former weekly newspaper based in Oneonta, The Otsego Democrat, described the discovery: "By invitation we visited on Sunday afternoon last, the new mineral well on the farm of Mr. Harvey Baker, near the roundhouse, in the lower part of this village, and found the water all that is claimed for it. Its medicinal qualities are beyond question, iron largely predominating."

Not much later, mineral water was found on John Primmer’s property, along today’s River Street. Another new well was found on the property of the former Hathaway House, which today would be found across the street from the Stella Luna Ristorante on Market Street, the former D&H Railroad depot.

Leonard Hathaway thought he had it made, with a hotel already in place. Others had visions of big hotels and resorts in Oneonta. The Albany and Susquehanna Railroad had arrived in Oneonta in 1865, so many thought people would come from near and far to take advantage of the healing waters.

A few people did, at first. The editor of the former Ovid Bee, a community newspaper in the Finger Lakes, had a nice review of our water. "Oneonta has a mineral spring just discovered, which may be turned to as good an account, if the people there will it, as those of any other locality, we care not where."

Why Oneonta never became a health resort village is not truly certain. But one can strongly speculate that a timely growth of the A&S Railroad had plenty to do with it.

Harvey Baker had been a busy man since the autumn of 1870. He persuaded A&S officials to take a look at some of his property near today’s River Street. The A&S was looking to build shops and a roundhouse as a central service and repair hub on the railroad route. Baker succeeded in his pitch, and by January 1871, the first small roundhouse had been completed.

This area was swampy at the time, and Baker drained a lot of the water and graded the land for the railroad construction project. He probably didn’t have much concern about finding some mineral water on his farm. The rest of his land not sold to the railroad had a profitable future value at stake.

The village had already doubled in population since the arrival of the railroad in 1865. There would be plenty more coming here for jobs in the next several decades.

In hindsight, as far as employment numbers, Oneonta as a resort town might have employed several hundred. The railroad employed thousands.

Oneonta’s railroad yard was active from 1871 until early 1996. Resort towns such as Richfield and Sharon Springs declined in popularity around the time of World War II and the opening of the New York Thruway.

Where that medicinal water went isn’t known. Oneonta once had a lot of swamps within its limits, so it is most likely these wells just dried up if they weren’t drained to accommodate population growth.

On Monday: Many students spent summers at the Mohican Reading School, near Springfield Center.

City Historian Mark Simonson’s column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com.