Towns & Communities

Bath Springs

Nestled in the southern hills of the eastern portion of Decatur County is Bath Springs, a community with a rich heritage.  The town was named by Dr. William Hancock, who settled there and discovered the sulphur water, built a health resort, and named the little town Bath Springs.  His medical office also served as a post office in the pioneer days.  Letters and packages were left for the people in the community.

In pre-Civil War days, a tanning factory operated in Bath Springs.  The business was two-fold.  The bark of trees was purchased to make acid to tan the hides.  Cattle hides were tanned in the factory and shipped out by river boats.  Bath Springs proper has no business places now, but four stores, a saw mill, and six churches are scattered over the nearby area.

One of the early families to locate in Bath Springs was the William Kindale family.  Kindale was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and lived to be 104 years of age.  When the community was at its peak, it boasted 47 houses; however, there are only 21 house there today, as people have left to find employment elsewhere.

 

From "Tennessee County History Series: Decatur County" by Lillye Younger 1979. ISBN 0-87870-077-3