The Town That Packed Up and Left Town-Part 1

Due to a number of requests from local residents, I will be attempting to tell the story of Spring Hope's beginnings, as I myself am just coming to understand it.

A good place to start is the origin of the name of our town. It is indisputable that the "Spring" portion was inspired by the property pictured below. It lies about 4 1/2 miles outside the present town limits and contains several natural springs that were used by settlers as early as 1714. Springs were extremely important in those days considering the ease with which wells could be poisoned by enemies. So it is no surprise that when the community became large enough to need a name, they should commemorate their dependence upon the life sustaining springs thereby.

No one can say for certain where the "Hope" portion came from but there are some legends in circulation. Mrs. Shirley Bass, the town librarian for the last 26 years enjoys telling one, which I find to be the most credible of all.  General Daniel Sanford Crenshaw, the first leader of the settlement is thought to have said he hoped the springs never ran dry because he dreaded having to dig a well.



The primary spring used by the original settlers of Spring Hope, 1840-1888.

 The springs are still flowing today but have slowed down enough to need an electric pump to be of practical use. This is probably due to the fact that the property is now heavily wooded, meaning there are hundreds of trees nowdrawing moisture from what was once cleared land. The cistern in the foreground was about half  full when I took the photo.