The Mordecai House (also called the Mordecai Plantation or Mordecai Mansion), built in 1785, is a registered historical landmark here in Raleigh N.C. and is the centerpiece of Mordecai Historic Park, adjacent to the Historic Oakwood neighborhood. It is the oldest residence in Raleigh on its original foundation.
The spring house here in Mordecai park has long since seen better days but it is still an interesting place to Visit. When it was funtional it supplied spring water for the residence living in and near the Mordecai House. It also was their Ice House ( more information on this use is in the text below) It was still in use until the late 1960's or early 1970's.
What is left of the Spring House is what you see at GZ and all the stones there were part of the original structure.
Spring House uses:
A spring house is a small building, usually a single room, constructed over a spring. Usually built in the upslode to allow for the flow of water through it. While the original purpose of a springhouse was to keep the spring water clean by excluding fallen leaves, animals, etc., the enclosing structure was also used for refrigeration before the advent of ice delivery and, later, electric refrigeration. The water of the spring maintains a constant cool temperature inside the spring house throughout the year. Food that would otherwise spoil, such as meat, fruit, or dairy products, could be kept there, safe from animal depredations as well. Springhouses thus often also served as pumphouses, milkhouses, and root cellers.
Though the picture below is not of the Spring House at GZ it is a good representaion of the Spring Houses in North Carolina and quite possibly close to what this one looked like in 1785.
These Spring Houses were built over Artesian Springs because the water from them flows under artesian pressure, generally through some fissure or other opening in the confining bed that overlies the aquifer. Below is a representaion of the BEFORE shot of GZ.
This spring is one of many springs located throughout the karst region of North Carolina.. The bedrock is limestone, the sedimentary rock, mainly composed of calcium carbonate, can be dissolved by naturally acidic rainwater, forming underground openings that serve as drainage systems. These drainage systems can form aquifers that feed springs. This spring is would have been known as a perennial spring, it continuously flowed forth with fine limestone water as opposed to an intermittent spring or a periodic spring
The Spring House would be built over the Spring ( as in the picture) .
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To get credit for this EC please send me the answers to the questions below .
1) Why do you think the spring house is located where it is?
2) What type of Spring was this Spring House constructed over and why?
3) What was the primary reason to construct a Spring House?
4) Looking at the original strucure stone, what type of rock do you believe that it is and why do you believe they used it to construct the Spring House with it?
5) As a requirement ( yes , it can now be) a picture of you and your GPS should be posted with your log.
