Tourists passing through the drowsy little village of Blue Springs would never imagine that it was once a popular summer resort.  Blue Springs is famous for its natural spring and pool, which for many years drew large crowds of visitors to the Blue Springs Hotel and cottages, seeking the pleasures of this watering place with its curative powers.

     Blue Springs is located on the west bank of the Choctawhatchee River, seven miles from Clio in Barber County, Thirty Two miles from Eufaula and eighty five miles southeast of Montgomery. The community was once considered “The Great Summer Resort” and was built around the spring which has been whimsically movable. It has poured out its pure water in two other locations before settling in its present location.

     A few old timers remember that the spring first appeared north of the highway about three hundred yards from the present location. The spring had suddenly dried up and then reappeared just south of the highway at the west end of the Choctawhatchee River Bridge. Improvements were made at the spring and it was made into a small swimming pool.		      A Mr. Harrison built a small hotel in the village in 1890. The population at the time was about two dozen families. He undertook to create a summer resort with the water being the prime attraction. Visitors from the surrounding area frequented the watering place.  At one point when Mr. Harrison closed the gate to the pool in order to raise the water level, a strange occurrence happened. In an old lime sink about two hundred yards away,  the water raised itself to the same level as that in Mr. Harrison’s spring pool. The sink was owned by J.T.E. Whigham. When he ditched the water from the sink into the nearby river, Mr. Harrison’s pool quickly dried up!. The spring the rapidly bubbled  up into Mr. Whigham’s lime sink. The sink then became the pool occupying an area about twenty five feet in diameter. Mr. Whigham then built the Blue Springs Hotel in 1900. Two years later he was able to increase the size of the hotel to twenty eight rooms.       The area around Blue Springs was the home of several prominent politicians, and as always at election time, there was excitement and interest here. During campaigns it was a popular place to hold “speakings” and candidates were always sure of attracting a large number of listeners. For many years Confederate soldiers also held reunions at the Blue Springs in the month of July. The people of the community furnished lunch to all those who attended. The soldiers came from all parts of the South. Also during July, horse traders in the area annually held their three day meetings to trade horses and enjoy the Blue Springs hospitality. The crowd was often estimated to exceed one thousand for a single day.

     In the earlier days of the resort, men and women were not permitted to bathe together in the pool. The women, whose bathing garments consisted of long-sleeved all over bathing suits with long black cotton stockings and bathing shoes, went into the pool but would not enter the water as long as a man was within sight. After the women splashed around for a time in the sixty seven degree water, they would all come out together and return to the hotel. It was then time for the men to enjoy the pool. At a later date, Mr. Whigham added a modern bathhouse.

     Mr. Whigham’s Blue Springs Hotel became a very popular retreat during the summer month with a room and three meals a day costing $1.00. Fried chicken was served every day and the bowl-and-pitcher hotel was full from June until the middle of September. Due to the limited number of rooms in the hotel, families began pitching tents near the pool. At times there were a many as fifteen to twenty tents set up under the shade trees. A few families even built small cottages there. The majority of patrons were families from the nearby towns of Eufaula, Clayton, Louisville, Clio, Brundidge, Troy, Ozark, Abbeville and Headland.

     In 1913 Mr. Whigham installed concrete around the sides of the pool, and opened a small pool for children.  The large pool remained in operation until about 1938. Since that time it has fallen into disrepair. The hotel was closed in 1924. A part of the building still remains, but the dance hall and the bathhouse have been removed. The once famous resort, with its gaiety has almost disappeared, except for the pure blue water which is being piped to homes of the Whigham family. The property is presently owned by the J.T.E. Whigham estate. It has been in the Whigham family for over one hundred years.