Bi-Weekly Newsletter

I remember visiting what we called Lincoln Spring with my father and siblings as a child. Chaffin mentions Lincoln Spring when he writes that Nathaniel Manley, one of Easton’s first settlers, lived not too far from Lincoln Spring. When Isaac Leonard discovered bog-iron ore near Manley’s house Manley deeded him one third part of the ore that would be taken from it. Isaac Leonard was Manley’s brother-in-law. Manley himself was gone by 1726, having sold his house, ore and land to Eliphalet Leonard. Lincoln Spring remains and is located off Lincoln Street to the north, not far from the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. ​

​What I saw at Lincoln Spring a few weeks ago.
I parked at the Town Pool parking lot, walked back up the hill toward Lincoln and took the path on the right that leads north roughly parallel to Lincoln. You can also access the spring from the parking lot of the church. The land nearby is very wet.
Lincoln Street itself was laid out in 1757. It began at the big rock near the intersection of Center and Main. I assume it’s the same rock that is still there today. If I understand Chaffin correctly, the original Lincoln Street ran differently so that the spring lay on the southern side of the road. It was a convenient spot to stop and water horses. Lincoln Street is likely named for Paul Lincoln’s family who settled there. Paul Lincoln fought with a company of Easton men in the Revolutionary War and at least three members of the extended family lived in the area. 
In 1887 the North Easton Water Company was created by Frederick Lothrop Ames, Oakes A. Ames, and our friend Dr. George Cogswell, among others. The North Easton Water Works was located at 101 Lincoln Street. Water from the series of springs “allowed the corporation to distribute water for residents, businesses and fire extinguishment.” Easton Historical Society.

Easton Water Works, Lincoln Street.


According to Doug Watts in his book Tispaquin’s Revenge (2006), water in the pond behind the Town Pool and the Town Pool itself are spring fed from a system of natural springs that includes Lincoln Spring or are collectively Lincoln Springs. In the 1970’s there was a high shingled pyramid in the middle of the pool parking lot that covered the well-head. “Built in 1887 as part of the North Easton Water Works, the sand bottom of the Town Pool was originally designed as a filter bed for cleaning surface water before it was pumped to homes in the North Easton Water District.  After the water supply was discontinued, the filter bed was repurposed in 1960 and is now used as a bathing beach which is known as the Easton Town Pool.” 


There is much more to this story that I will follow up with in later newsletters.
 
Anne Wooster Drury
[email protected]
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