Clarendon Springs House

The land about the springs was later purchased by Richard Murray, who built a large hotel called the Clarendon House and made the village a popular health resort. Stores, lodging houses, and homes were built, and during the summer Clarendon Springs became a lively community. Its popularity was at its height during the “Gay Nineties,” when tourists came from all parts of the Union by stage coach and post chaise in search of healing from the mineral springs. The red-coated Ira band, led by George Curtiss, brother of Fannie (Curtiss) Fish, gave concerts there each summer. The hotel was later managed by the four sons of Richard Murray, Arthur, George, Charles, and headed by Robert, a large bottling works were established, and the water was shipped to all parts of the world, its health-giving properties not being lost over a period of years after bottling. The Springs gradually went into decline, however, and now (1940) only a few residents remain, among them the Seamans family…