Where Is/Was the "Big Spring at Elliston ?

[NW Mailing List]

Abram,

This response does not provide exact answers to the questions you raised but perhaps provides some useful background information.

What I believe to be the  location of the Big Spring is about  2000 feet west of where the depot was in Elliston, on the south side of the tracks.  If you look on Google Earth, you will see some ponded water that still exists there  and is related to the spring.  It is on the north side on Rt.11/460 between that and the tracks.  While I do not direct knowledge of this, I have read that the spring and pond were used to produce watercress which was put on “an express train” in Elliston and shipped overnight to New York restaurants.  One will still see watercress growing in the pond.

There is still a large grain mill just to the east of where the depot was and on the north side of the tracks.  This is Big Spring Mill.

        Ray Smoot

From: NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Wednesday, April 17, 2019 10:12 AM
To: N&W Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Subject: Where Is/Was the "Big Spring at Elliston ?


For as many years as I rolled through Elliston on trains, I never thought about the location of a big spring which had given the town its original name, Big Spring.



But today while researching some family history in Montgomery County, I ran across a photo which is identified as showing  the spring at Elliston, and someone has guessed at a date of circa 1910-1920.  Here is the link, and I have attached an image file.



https://sites.rootsweb.com/~vamontgo/chrisitainsburg1908.jpg

So, I have two questions:  (1)  Exactly WHERE was/is this spring? (coordinates would be nice...), and (2) When did the railroad change the name of the station from Big Spring to Elliston and why ?

The detective agency of Pinkerton Miller Blackstock & Bundy now has some productive work to do...


                 --- abram burnett,
Amalgamated Turnip Workers of America, AFL-CIO

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