Timeline of the Jenny Lind Spring at Yellow Springs

Indigenous Peoples of Yellow Springs | Archaic Period

~10,000 BCE – 1000 BCE

Around 12,020 years ago

• ~10,000 BCE– The first people, called Paleo-Indigenous peoples (also known as Paleo-Indians), arrived after the last Ice Age. They likely hunted large animals and gathered wild plants.
• ~8000 BCE: The Archaic Period began in the archaeological record of the Americas. People continued to move seasonally and gathered food from the land instead of depending on large game.

Around 10,000 years ago

• Known as the Early Archaic Period. Archaeologists identified one Early Archaic site along the Schuylkill River east of Parker Ford. Another Early Archaic site is known at Yellow Springs.
• ~7000 BCE: The climate became warmer. Large Ice Age animals disappeared, so people changed how they lived and relied on a wider range of plants and smaller animals.

Around 5,000 years ago

• 3000 BCE: During the Middle Archaic Period, the local population grew as the climate became warmer and more like today’s.
  • In 30,000 Acres: Vincent and Pikeland Townships 1686 to 1850, published in 1989, Estelle Creamer and archaeologist Harry Tucci Jr. wrote that archaeologists had identified 34 Middle Archaic sites in this region of Chester County
• ~3500 BCE- During the Bog Gardens construction project in the year 1999, two projectile points washed out from the  East Meadows. One of these, Point B, is classified as a Brewerton Side Notch projectile point. This type of projectile point dates back (according to the Projectile Point Identification Database) to between 3000 BCE and 2000 BCE. This dates the presence of Indigenous Peoples at Yellow Springs to between ~5,000 years ago to 4,000 years ago.

Around 4,000 years ago

• ~2500 BCE– During the same Bog Gardens construction project in 1999, point A was also found in the wash out from construction. Point A is a Bare Island Stemmed Point, which dates (according to the Projectile Point Identification Database) to between 2500 BCE and 400 CE. This places habitation at Yellow Springs to anywhere between ~4,500 years ago and ~1,600 years ago.

• ~1000 BCE: The Late Archaic Period continued many Middle Archaic traditions. Again according to Tucci and Creamers, in 1989, archaeologists had identified 33 sites from this time in the Vincent and Pikeland area.

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Indigenous Peoples of Yellow Springs | Woodland Period

1000 BCE – 1600 CE

• 1000 BCE– The Woodland Period began. Indigenous communities settled in one place more often and began practicing agriculture in the Schuylkill Valley.
  • Rich farmland and a low population helped reduce conflict between Indigenous communities.
  • Archaeologists identified one Woodland village site between Sheeder Mill Bridge and Cook’s Glen Bridge along French Creek. The ancestors of the Lenape people lived there.
    • This information is as reported by Creamers and Tucci and was published in 1989.

Between 3,000 years ago and 1575

• 1000 BCE to 1575 CE– Indigenous communities chose camps near fresh water, dry ground, firewood, and waterways that supported travel and daily life.
  • In 1989, Creamers and Tucci’s contributions state the following:
    • Archaeologists have documented 31 prehistoric campsites in Vincent and Pikeland Townships
    • Twenty-two campsites sit on higher ground near waterways, where people had access to water while avoiding floods.
    • French Creek contains 16 known archaeological sites. Other sites are located along Stony Run, Birch Run, the Schuylkill River, and nearby streams.
    • Fourteen campsites sit on well-drained hills away from waterways. Erosion has removed much of the evidence from these sites
• ~500 CE: Indigenous peoples replaced the spear with the bow and arrow, making hunting more effective.
• Around 1575– European contact marked the beginning of the Contact Period. Indigenous communities gradually adopted European goods, including metal tools, while disease, alcohol, and colonization caused major cultural and social changes.

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Colonization of Yellow Springs

1600 – 1722

1630s – 1680s

• 1600– Lenape communities occupied the French Creek and Schuylkill watersheds. Archaeological evidence shows they continued using camps, hunting areas, and travel routes established centuries earlier.
• 1616– Dutch exploration reached the Delaware River, but present-day Pikeland remained part of the Lenape homeland with no permanent European settlement nearby.
• 1630s– Swedes and Finns begin to dwell as traders along the Delaware River to trade with the Indigenous peoples, including what would become Pennsylvania
• 1664– England claimed the Delaware Valley from the Dutch. Political control changed among European powers, but the Lenape continued occupying much of present-day Chester County.
• 1681– William Penn received Pennsylvania from King Charles II. The grant included present-day Pikeland, although the land was still occupied and used by Lenape communities.
• 1682– Penn negotiated land purchases with Lenape leaders instead of claiming the land solely by conquest. These agreements shaped the first years of Pennsylvania settlement.
• 1685– Benjamin Chambers, a friend of William Penn, surveys the area between the Delaware River and the Susquehanna River. His map (digitally enhanced by HYS) can be seen below.

• 1690s- Permanent European settlement began appearing in what became Pikeland Township, while Lenape communities continued living elsewhere in Chester County into the early eighteenth century.
• 1690– One of the oldest recorded permanent settlements in the area, now located at 1461 Art School Road, appears in records as early as 1690. Today, the site is home to the Fagley homestead, built in 1860 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Although outside modern-day Yellow Springs, the property reflects the broader settlement of the Pikeland area and once contained a major iron deposit owned by Phoenix Iron Co.

Early 1700s

• 1700s– European settlers (especially German immigrants) began living on this land more permanently. The Hench property, for example, at 1446 Clover Mill Hill just outside modern-day Yellow Springs, is said to date to 1715 and was purchased by the Hench family, German immigrants who were part of a migration from Lehigh, Berks, and Montgomery Counties that began in 1709.
• 1705– William Penn granted a tract of over 30,000 acres to Matthias Vincent, who then leases over 10,000 acres, known as “Pikeland,” to Joseph Pike
• 1721– The “Iron Springs” are first noted on a map of the Township of Pikeland by Isaac Taylor.
  • Another house in the neighboring community of Yellow Springs, the Dietrich House (at modern-day 1337 Art School Road, previously known as Arkadia) has an original construction dating back to 1721.
• 1722– the American Weekly Mercury out of Philadelphia reports on a letter from New York about a mineral spring in the Great Valley about 30 miles away from Philadelphia. This mineral spring would later become known as “Yellow Springs”

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Colonial Era Tavern and Spa

1722 – 1770

• ~1733- The nearest excavated Contact-period Lenape site is 36CH60 (Montgomery Site) in Wallace Township, dated roughly 1700 to 1733. Marshall Becker’s excavation demonstrates that Lenape communities remained in Chester County after Penn’s arrival rather than disappearing immediately.
• 1737- The “Walking Purchase” dispossessed the Lenape of vast territories in Pennsylvania and forces them out of their ancestral homeland

• 1753– David Rittenhouse comes to Yellow Springs to seek treatment for his ulcers from the waters in the springs here.
• 1761– James Martin acquired the license to the tavern and the 160 acres of property surrounding it. The tavern that was on his property is now part of the Washington, and is known as the Brick Room. The springhouses on the property were part of this purchase.
• October 21st, 1762– James Martin and Caleb Harry advertise in the The Pennsylvania Gazette looking to lease the remaining part of the Yellow Springs Plantation.

•  May 5th, 1763– John Fairlamb, Sheriff, advertises the sale of the Yellow Springs Plantation (and Tavern) that previously belonged to James Martin. Notably, this advertisement indicates that the sheriff’s sale may have been for only half of the original property, though this is unclear. This advertisement ran in The Pennsylvania Gazette until at least May 19th, 1763.

• May 19th, 1763– Despite the Sheriff’s Sale of Yellow Springs being in effect, stage wagons from Philadelphia to Yellow Springs are advertised by John Cobble. These wagons would carry goods and people from Philadelphia to the spa.

• November 17th, 1763– Jonathan Durell, whose relation to Yellow Springs is currently being researched, places an advertisement about good entertainment at Yellow Springs and that the water is in “good order”. It is unclear who is the current owner of Yellow Springs at this time.

• May 31st, 1764– Advertisements continue for wagon services from Philadelphia to Yellow Springs.

• September 6th, 1764– Philadelphia silversmith John Bayly acquires the village and leases the property. He improves and enlarges the tavern (which is currently known as the Brick Room in the Washington Building). Though the Jenny Lind Springhouse is not mentioned directly, the land (and spring that would eventually feed it) was part of this purchase.

• 1765– The 1765 Minutes of Uwchland Meeting House describe the village at Yellow Springs as a “promiscuous Resort”. Quakers are advised to keep their children away from the area.
• 1767– Dr. John Morgan, renown doctor from Philadelphia, sends his patients to Yellow Springs to drink the water to improve their health. One of those patients is Mrs. Hannah Skelton.
• 1770– The Yellow Springs property is to be auctioned. Village attracts 200-500 daily in season, thanks to the popular mineral baths and tavern.

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• March 1st, 1770- The Pennsylvania Gazette discusses how the entire Yellow Springs Plantation is to be sold on March 21st of that year. Also discusses tracts of land being sold around Yellow Springs. Possible that this is where Dr. Samuel Kennedy purchased Yellow Springs.
  Originally posted in the newspaper The Pennsylvania Gazette in 1764. Image courtesy of Newspapers.com

• May 31st 1770- The Pennsylvania Journal discusses how the Yellow Springs Plantation was to be sold on June 30 of that year? Conflicts with previously mentioned newspaper article that said plantation was to be sold on March 21st. Mentions George Maxton as living in Yellow Springs.
  Originally posted in the newspaper The Pennsylvania Gazette in 1764. Image courtesy of Newspapers.com

The American Revolutionary War

1770 – 1781

• 1771– In April of 1771, the entire property of John Bayly is to be sold by the sheriff to pay off Bayly’s debts.
• March 14th, 1771- The Pennsylvania Gazette discusses how the Yellow Springs Plantation is to be sold on April 6th at the house of George Maxton in Yellow Springs. A later date then previously mentioned. Possible that John Bayly is having difficulty finding someone to purchase the estate.
  Originally posted in the newspaper The Pennsylvania Gazette in 1764. Image courtesy of Newspapers.com
• February 27th, 1772– Dr. Samuel Kennedy and John Bayly advertised for a tenant at a house at Yellow Springs. This notice predates our earliest records of Kennedy’s purchase of the property and may suggest that the Kennedy family acquired Yellow Springs before 1774. Notably, Bayly was still connected to Yellow Springs at this time.

• 1774– Dr. Samuel Kennedy of East Whiteland purchases the Yellow Springs plantation after the property was sold in foreclosure. Though the Lincoln building has not been built yet, the land that it was on would be part of aa hospital complex at Yellow Springs that served the sick and injured soldiers from Valley Forge
• September 11th, 1777– Battle of Brandywine
  • In the aftermath of the Battle of Brandywine, soldiers fleeing the battlefield are treated and housed by several of the immigrant farmers whose properties neighbored Yellow Springs. Prior to this, in 1776, a Hessian soldier passing through Yellow Springs notes that several “Rebel Hospitals” being operated out of barns in Yellow Springs
• September 16th, 1777– Battle of the Clouds
  • Battle of the Clouds in Frazer is aborted by a nor’easter and the American army marches from Frazer to Yellow Springs to camp in the blinding rainstorm. George Washington stays in the tavern at Yellow Springs while 11,000 troops camp overnight on the Yellow Springs property and leave the next day for Warwick and Redding Furnaces (Elverson)
• 1777-1781– Washington Hall and the Hospital Complex
  • From 1777 to 1781, the Yellow Springs property served as a major hospital complex for the Continental Army. The complex included Washington Hall, a general hospital built between 1777 and 1778 that also served as the headquarters of the Hospital Department; several “rebel” hospitals that operated from barns throughout the village as flying hospitals; and the supply depot for the hospitals of the Middle Department. If the unofficial hospitals described by the Hessian soldier mentioned earlier are included, medical operations at Yellow Springs date back to 1776.
• September 1781– Washington Hall is closed
  • Congress ordered the closure of the hospital complex and Washington Hall at Yellow Springs, despite requests from Dr. Otto, who assumed leadership of the hospital following Dr. Kennedy’s death, that it remain open.

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Fashionable Health Spa

1782 – 1867

• 1783– Captain Alexander McCaraher (a family friend of the Kennedy family) reopens the tavern at Yellow Springs (now the Brick Room of the Washington Building) and repairs “the baths and bath houses.”
• 1789– All of Pikeland Township (East & West) to be sold at auction to satisfy the debts of Andrew Allen owed to Samuel Hoare. 115 terre tenants (persons holding titles to the property but who were not the original debtor who incurred the lien) held land at that time.
• 1810– Yellow Springs was profiled in The Portfolio, a national magazine. Around this time, Col. James Bones, who owned property in the village since 1806, attempted to sell his holdings at auction as the “Town of Bath”. However, the sale was unsuccessful, with fewer than half of the advertised lots being sold. In 1816, Bones sold the inn that contained the original Yellow Springs tavern to Frederick and Margaret Holman, who had operated the tavern since at least 1793.

• 1826– Advertisements indicated Yellow Springs can now be reached by packet boat. Meanwhile, steamboats are beginning to offer vacations at the seashore (Cape May). 
• 1828– Mrs. Holman indicates that she has erected a 3 story house and connected it to the adjacent hotel with a piazza. Today, we can still see the piazza connecting these two hotels- now known as the Washington Building and the Lincoln Building. The road via Kimberton is now graded and three stages a week come from Philadelphia.
  • During the era in which Mrs. Holman ran the Yellow Springs resort, it played host to notable people of the era, including Jenny Lind, Fanny Kemble, P.T. Barnum, and Chang and Eng Bunker (also known as the Siamese Twins)
• 1846– Dr. George Lingen acquired the Yellow Springs property and uses it as a homeopathic facility.

• Additional research is ongoing to determine how this structure was used during this time period.
• 1856– Foreclosure sale of Dr. Lingen’s interests in Yellow Springs. August Snyder acquires the Springs.
• 1867– Village and Washington Hall is owned and operated by A. U. Snyder, Esq. It continues to serve as a hotel for visitors to the spa. However, the summer of 1867 was the final season that Yellow Springs served as a resort. After changing hands a number of times, Yellow Springs would eventually be purchased for use as a school for Orphans of the American Civil War.

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Pennsylvania Soldiers’ Orphan School

1868 – 1912

• The Yellow Springs property was sold to the Pennsylvania Soldiers’ Orphan School system. Additional research is ongoing to determine how this structure was used during this time period.

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Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts: Country School

1916 – 1951

• After 1912, The Yellow Springs property was sold to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, who used the property as a country school for student artists. Additional research is ongoing to determine how this structure was used during this time period.

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Good News Productions

1952 – 1965

• Good News Productions, an evangelical film-making studio operated by Shorty Yeaworth, purchases the Yellow Springs Village. Additional research is ongoing to determine how this structure was used during this time period.

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Early Years and Formation of the Yellow Springs Foundation

1965 – 1978

• The Yellow Springs Association morphs into the Yellow Springs Foundation. These organizations would later become Historic Yellow Springs. Additional research is ongoing to determine how this structure was used during this time period.

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Historic Yellow Springs

1978 – today

• Additional research is ongoing to determine how this structure was used during this time period.

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Further research is ongoing!