First to Arrive:
Amos and Pierpoint Spicer, Samuel Hamlin, C. C. Darling settled at Spicerville near Spring Brook. They saw possibilities in the small stream for water power and found good soil for farming. They erected a saw mill in the first year. They followed the stream to its junction with the Grand River and predicted that someday that spot would be an industrial center. They added 633 acres to their already 160. In 1838 the original plat of the village was laid out. However between the two locations were swampy low lands. A two mile road was built to transport lumber. The road has always been known as Hogsback Road.
Settlers were taking up land rapidly. The four original pioneers, the Spicer brothers, Darling and Hamlin formed a mill company. They dug a channel on the south side of Spring Brook at its junction with the Grand River, it came to be called the South Race and water gates were installed. The mill company put up a framed building and in 1837 the first industry in Eaton Rapids was born. The Old Red Mill. It was razed in 1882 when the Island City Flouring Mill was erected on the site.
Mineral Water:
Eaton Rapids’ first claim to fame was its curative waters. Barely out of its buckskins and patches, the famous magnetic mineral springs were discovered. The spring water was analyzed by professors Duffield and Kedzie of the Michigan Agricultural College and found to be high in magnesia, iron, soda, potassium, sodium, silica acid and lime. People came from all over the world to seek cures for every ailment known to man. The first mineral rich water was discovered in 1852 when a dry goods store owned by E. B. Frost needed to increase its water supply. He put down a 160 foot well at the curb on the north east corner of Main and East Knight Streets. He tapped into a free flowing supply of mineral rich water that promised to make Eaton Rapids one of the most famed cities in the world. News spread quickly and new wells were put down and hotels sprang up all over town. 14 well in all were drilled. Six passenger trains daily brought rich people to Eaton Rapids for cures. Every available hotel room was taken up by visitors and those seeking good health.
What happened to Eaton Rapids? What happened to the Saratoga of the West? One by one the hotels burned and were never rebuilt. The health seekers went elsewhere. Synthetic materials took over the market instead of wool. Most of the wells have been pulled out. However there are three that I am aware of, one at Spicerville, one at Smithville Dam and the final one at the old athletic field. The last bath was closed in 1962.
Quoted From http://www.eatonrapidsmi.net/history.html
