Beginning in about 1892 people in Marlin began drilling for drinking water and got what they wanted. Sort of.
They got a geyser of water all right, but it was hot and funny tasting because it was laden with minerals.
They made the best of the situation though, and the discovery triggered a health industry in Marlin based on the perceived, curative qualities of the water, laden with sulfur, that lasted about 50 years, according to the history of the geothermal wells from the Marlin Chamber of Commerce.
Some of the vestiges of the water industry are still around today, including a water fountain and footbath, still flowing with the hot stuff, near the Marlin chamber building at 245 Coleman St.
According to a history of the town from The Handbook of Texas Online and from the Marlin Chamber Web site, after townsfolk discovered the hot mineral water, what followed was a stream of businesses capitalizing on the perceived health benefits of the water including two bathhouses, a hotel and Torbett Hospital.
A hospital for crippled children also formed and included treatment and therapy in a hot water pool used for afflictions such as polio and arthritis.
By 1900 Marlin was thriving with the help of its healthy water industry and drew famous visitors.
According to the Texas Almanac, the New York Giants baseball team trained in the area there from 1908 to 1919, at least in part to use the water.
By the 1930s, according to the handbook, up to 100,000 people looking for the healthy benefits of the water found themselves visiting Marlin annually.
Area newspapers and other publications also cashed in, running advertisements for the springs, touting Marlin as “The Oasis of Health,” and enticing visitors - “There’s Health here! Hot mineral laxative waters to drink and bathe in; adequate bath house, sanitarium, hospital, hotel facilities; delightful climate; good golf course and other recreational opportunities.”
The advertisements claim the water “furnishes relief from constipation, rheumatism, malaria, high blood pressure, diabetes, stomach trouble, skin and blood diseases, etc.”
With the end of World War II, though, the public interest in the hot springs slowed to a trickle and by the 1960s many of the water-related industries were gone, including the children’s hospital, which closed after World War II, according to histories of the wells.
Today, use of the water is not what it used to be. Other than the hot-water drinking fountain, the biggest user in town is Falls Community Hospital. And although the hospital still uses the water, it is not as much for a cure as for a way to keep warm.
“We heat our hospital with the geothermal wells,” said Willis Reese, administrator. “The wells are about 3,800 to 3,900 feet deep and the water heats to about 148 degrees (Fahrenheit).” He said water flows through the wells at about 155 gallons per minute.
Cynthia Dees, office manager for the Marlin chamber, said that even though the water-based health industry that sprang up as a result of the mineral water is mostly gone, the springs still attract visitors to the city, which was designated “The Mineral Water City of Texas” in 1999 by the Texas Senate.
She said people often sip from the water fountain and dip their feet in the footbath. And although the water is safe, it’s best not to drink too much of it at a time, she said.
“The water is drinkable, although it has a sulfuric taste, and you don’t want to drink too much if you are not used to it because it does have a laxative effect on your system,” she said.
“It (the hot water) still brings tourists here on a weekly basis, just because they have had grandparents or someone in their past telling them about coming to Marlin and taking treatments in the past and how it helped them cure everything from allergies to arthritis,” she said.
Ms. Dees said the foot tub and fountain are always open.
“They run all the time and are accessible to you anytime of the day or night,” she said.
