Mammoth Spring (Illinois) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mammoth Spring |
|
|---|---|
The spring sometime before 1937 and before urban development
|
|
| Location | Oak Brook, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 41°51′16″N 87°56′56″W / 41.85444°N 87.94889°W |
 Location in Chicago metropolitan area
Location in Illinois
|
|
Mammoth Spring is a natural water spring located in DuPage County, Illinois, USA. For many years, this spring was an important source of water for nearby towns. Today, you can find the spot where it once flowed on the grounds of the DoubleTree hotel in Oak Brook.
The Spring's Beginning
Mammoth Spring first appeared quite suddenly in 1861. It started flowing on the farm of the Talmadge family. For almost 30 years, until 1889, the spring's water was used to help grow crops on the farm.
Around 1874, people described Mammoth Spring as being "in the highway." This means it was located right next to a road, between the lands owned by G.H. Talmadge and Robert Reed. Old drawings even show parts of the spring on the Talmadge farm.
Water for the Community
The road next to the spring was named Spring Road. This was because a special wooden pipe, called a conduit, was built along it. This conduit carried water from the spring to nearby communities.
In 1889, a new wooden conduit was built. From that year until 1916, Mammoth Spring became a very important water source. It supplied all the water for the town of Elmhurst. It also provided some water for Oak Brook.
The spring even supplied water for two companies:
- The Elmhurst Spring Water Company, which sold drinking water.
- The Mammoth Spring Ice Company, which made natural ice.
The Spring's Later Years
Over time, people started making ice using machines instead of relying on natural ice. Because of this, the Mammoth Spring Ice Company was sold in 1910.
By 1916, the City of Elmhurst took over its own water supply. They started drilling their own wells to get water. This meant they no longer needed water from Mammoth Spring. The spring stopped being a water source for Elmhurst sometime between 1918 and 1927.
The original wooden trough that carried the spring's water was destroyed in 1979. This happened when Spring Road was made wider to handle more traffic.
