Summary: This episode delves into the public health industry that emerged in New York in the 19th Century. As the understanding of medicine and health evolved over time, there were many communities in New York state whose location was thought to have healing properties, most often because of the existence of springs or some other perceived environmental benefit. The most famous is Saratoga Springs, but there are others around the state, including Pitcher Springs in Chenango County. These locations flourished in the 19th Century, as people began to look to them not only as places of healing, but as places of high society and entertainment. Marker: Pitcher Springs, Pitcher, Chenango County, NY Guests: Pitcher Town Clerk Emily Stith; Canisius College Professor Thomas Chambers, author of Drinking the Waters: Creating an American Leisure Class at Nineteenth-Century Mineral Springs A New York Minute In History is a production of the New York State Museum, WAMC, and Archivist Media, with support from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. This episode was produced by Jesse King. Our theme is "Begrudge" by Darby. Further Reading: American Physicians in the Nineteenth Century: From Sects to Science, William G. Rothstein (1992) Sickness and Health in America: Readings in the History of Medicine and Public Health, edited by Judith W. Leavitt and Ronald L. Numbers (1997) A History of American Medicine from the Colonial Period to the Early Twentieth Century, Luis H. Toledo-Pereyra (2006) Teaching Resources: “A Guide to History of Medicine Resources: Image Collections, Podcasts, Videos, and More,” Association of College and Research Libraries. Resources, American Association for the History of Medicine. Follow Along Devin: Welcome to A New York Minute In History. I'm Devin Lander, the New York state historian. Lauren: And I'm Lauren Roberts, the historian for Saratoga County. On this episode, we're going to be talking about the water cure, and its popularity in New York state in the 19th Century. Now, being the Saratoga County historian, I'm quite familiar with the popularity of the mineral springs in both Saratoga Springs and Ballston Spa, in my county. But today, the marker we're going to be focusing on is actually found in central New York. Located in Chenango County, in the town of Pitcher, is a marker titled "Pitcher Springs." And the text reads: "By 1843, a village with two public houses, an academy, a store and 30 dwellings grew near sulphur springs, thought to have healing properties. William G. Pomeroy Foundation, 2013." This is what we know about Pitcher Springs. It was a small hamlet situated in the town of Pitcher that boasted two or three sulphur springs, and it became a popular area for tourists to come and take in these waters in the hopes that it would heal whatever their ailments were. I spoke with the current Pitcher Town Clerk Emily Stith, who has a personal connection to the town's history. Emily: We currently don't have a historian, the previous historian was my grandmother, Rita Stith, and no one has filled that role since her passing. Lauren: Emily's grandmother was the one who applied for the Pomeroy marker back in 2013. Emily: This is definitely a labor of love for her...Settlers in this area kind of gravitated towards the hillside farms. It was difficult to find water that was pure, because anything in the river valleys, there was a lot of marsh land. I did find one story, where there was a young man named Denison Hakes, who just happened to be walking one day from his father's hillside farm that wasn't far from the springs. And he actually was able to drink from the water. They actually erected several boarding houses, there were hotels and an academy was built. They had a bowling alley, there was a tavern. The Eagle House was a grand hotel then. They believed that it was built from wealthy investors that
