Cold Spring (1845)
This spring is located just west of Upper Dummerston Road where it joins Route 30. A source of pure water, it was the destination of daily walks by patrons of Dr. Wesselhoeft’s Hydropathic Institution, located in Brattleboro. In 1899 the Retreat built a stone hood over the spring and a rustic bridge of boulders over the ravine. It became a favorite resting place for Retreat patients on their daily walks.
From my book "Bicycling The Connecticut River Valley:"
About 150 years ago, Dr. Robert Wesselhoeft started his famous
water cures at his Hydropathic Institution in downtown Brattleboro.
Guests included such, notables as Martin Van Buren, Julia Ward Howe
("Battle Hymn of the Republic"), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Gen-
eral George McClelland, general William Tecumseh Sherman, Harriet
Beecher Stowe, and Henry David Thoreau. Wesselhoeft's treatment
included cold baths, bland foods, and a daily stroll to the cold spring.
Even after the Hydropathic Institution closed its doors for good, Retreat
patients "continued to drink the water in the Cold Spring area
and tour its many tree shaded walkways, stone arches, and lookout."
1865 by "X."
“Would you know a pleasant terminus of a comfortable stroll from the village, just long enough for a summer twilight? Go to Cold Spring. Are there times of heat when you would repair to a seat in a spot of delightful shade, and would quaff the sweetest of cool, spring water? I commend you to Cold Spring. Or, do you desire a quiet nook by the wayside where you may sit with another by moonlight under a grand canopy of graceful branches? Let Cold Spring be the place. But let the hour be late, or you may find the blue uniforms preoccupying the coveted seat.”
The cache is a camo pill bottle.