Deb Malewski
Contributing Writer

(Deb Malewski/FAN – Mineral wells were all the rage in the 1800s and Eaton Rapids offered them up to visitors and citizens alike. The story is chronicled in a book by Malachi King.)

Mineral water was an important part of Eaton Rapids’ history, greatly contributing to the town’s growth in the late 1800s and to the financial well-being of its residents. And maybe, just maybe, it “cured” some of the people who decided to drink or bathe in it.

During the height of the mineral water craze, Eaton Rapids became a destination for “water tourists” who came to drink, bathe in, and be treated with the town’s mineral waters. At times, the number of visitors was greater than the town’s resident population. Hotels, bathhouses, physicians, and other businesses all benefited from the steady stream of people who came to Eaton Rapids seeking the reputed health benefits of its magical waters.

Malachi King, author of the newly released book “Magnetic Waters That Healed: The Fascinating Story of the Mineral Water Craze of Eaton Rapids, Michigan,” takes mineral water and its history very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that he has replicated some of the scientific tests performed in the early days to substantiate the water’s purported healing and magnetic properties.

More recently, King took his research a step further. Influenced by his research for the book, he visited what King believes to be the last of Eaton Rapids’ fifteen original mineral wells that is still flowing – the Arcana. 

Today, the well produces little more than a trickle, but more than a century ago, mineral wells like this one were at the center of Eaton Rapids’ booming reputation as a health resort.

The Arcana well was sunk around 1872 and was connected with the Anderson House hotel at the corner of Knight and Main Streets. It was later used by Dr. Edward Grandy in his chiropractic clinic at 106 E. Knight St., until 1962. Grandy used the sulphur-tainted water to bathe patients, claiming that it possessed healing properties and “stimulated the function of the blood.”

With permission from the owner, King visited the well, which is located in the basement of the building. Surprisingly, the basement was very neat, tidy and dry. Half of it was a standard Michigan basement, housing the furnace and water heater. The other half consisted of an elevated platform, almost completely covered with rough, orange corrosion caused by the mineral content of the water. A few pipes and wires crossed the area, along with several small puddles of water.

The minerals present in the water, according to Professors Kedzie and Duffield of the Michigan Agricultural College at the time the wells were discovered, included magnesia, iron, soda, potassium, sodium, silica acid, and lime.

Without hesitation, and while wearing shorts, King eagerly crawled out onto the platform to get a closer look at what appeared to be the wellhead. 

He was tentatively hoping to get a sip of the spring water. Unfortunately, the puddles surrounding the wellhead were stagnant, murky, and definitely non-drinkable. The water merely leaked rather than flowed.

Still, it was an actual relic from long ago, and standing beside it allowed King to step, quite literally, into the history of Eaton Rapids. His excitement at seeing the well was obvious. His orange-stained knees were proof that, even after all these years, Eaton Rapids’ mineral water could still leave its mark.

King’s book is available on Amazon and various shops in the area. For information, contact King through his Facebook page.