By Walter Lunt
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| A small wood-frame shed once covered the Sebago Mineral Spring on Freeman's Hill in Windham. It was replaced, probably in the early to mid-20th century, by the brick and wood structure where it stands today. PHOTO BY WALTER LUNT |
Through much of its 100-plus year history, it can be said that Mineral Spring in Windham is the outdoor version of the office water cooler. Catching up with friends and neighbors, meeting new people – even matrimonial match-ups happened spontaneously as community members hand-pumped the cool, clean and clear spring water from the side of a steep hill off the eastern shore of Sebago Lake located off Route 302 between North Windham and the Raymond town line.
In the late 19th century, before it was the Mineral Spring neighborhood, an arc of shoreline dotted with rustic seasonal cabins, it was the hundred-acre farm of Samuel Freeman. About half-way up “Freeman’s Hill” was a spring-fed well continuously spewing very cold, clear water. Tests on the spring water were conducted by a state chemist in 1883 and concluded “The water is very pure (with) no organic matter…(and) mineral matter (that is) beyond doubt, very beneficial in many diseases.”
Documents at the Windham Historical Society indicate there was at least one attempt to market and sell Freeman’s spring water, however there is no evidence to suggest that it ever succeeded. Jane Shaw, a resident of the Mineral Spring neighborhood for the past 38 years, explains that the deed to the spring house includes the following passage: “…the right to take water from (the) Spring for drinking purposes (is permitted), but not to lay pipes from said Spring or to take said water for sale.”
The Freeman property was sold some time after 1912 to William H. Cram (1860-1949). Cram was a well-known and highly respected Windham resident and a successful businessman. He ran a grocery store in North Windham and served as a town selectman as well as a Cumberland County Commissioner for 18 years, acting as chairman during his last term. He was also a Master Mason and faithful member of North Windham Union Church.Cram developed Freeman’s Hill into what is now known as Mineral Springs (which is near but separate and distinct from the original Mineral Spring neighborhood).
In 1921, several residents of the original Mineral Spring formed an association designed to maintain the history, heritage, and social culture of the Mineral Spring neighborhood. Said Jane Shaw, “The Sebago Mineral Spring Association was originally formed as a Social Club. What is now our field and boat storage area there was originally a Club House and tennis courts. In the summer, every Saturday, a pot-luck supper was done and quite a few dances held.” And she said, “In many of our deeds there is an easement to allow for horses to pass over our land in order to drink from the lake.”
The association marked its 100th anniversary last year, and 101st this month. True to form, there was a healthy gathering of members to celebrate both occasions. Shaw reports (road) membership now numbers over 30 homes.
In the early days, it was common for the seasonal folk to gather at the spring house to socialize while collecting water. On a summer day in the early 1920s, Philip Grant, 13, was working the hand pump, filling his water jugs, when he noticed a new face in the crowd. Young Lillian Hamilton, who was visiting from Portland and staying with friends, was waiting her turn at the water pump. The two exchanged a few words before Philip returned to his cabin to announce to his parents that he’d just met the girl he would someday marry. His mother, Lillian, promptly recorded her son’s words in her diary, which survives to this day.
Stories like this, and many others, abound within the small, close-knit neighborhood called Mineral Spring.
Fast-forward to the 1960s and Kristin Grant begins her long string treasured memories in the neighborhood that straddles Sebago Lake’s eastern shore. Her great-grandparents bought the lake cottage in 1919. Her grandparents renovated it into year-round living in 1960. Now a retired administrator from Windham schools, Grant reminisces about the long-ago summers swimming, trolling for salmon, playing ball in the clubhouse field, hiking up the hill to the spring house, the winters when there was skating and sledding down the big hill, and spring when the family would chop melting ice chunks from the edge of the lake and hand crank the old ice cream churn.
Grant recalls drawing water at the spring house as a young girl. “It was common practice to get your drinking water by climbing the hill and filling up containers with the amazing cold spring water, but you just couldn’t do it with bare feet; you had to stand in the overflow (that collected on the ground). It was sooo cold. But it was so good – clear, cold and refreshing.”
Sadly, no one draws water from the spring house these days. Jane Shaw says the water now tests high for chloroform and therefore it is not drinkable. The association, she says will work to fix the problem.
And yes, Philip Grant did marry Lillian Hamilton… in 1933. They spent 55 happy years together, much of it at the lake house at Mineral Spring, within sight of the old spring house. We know the story of their first encounter is true – it’s recorded in Philip’s mother’s diary, and Kristin Grant remembers her grandfather’s words to her, “He (told me) it was love at first sight.” <
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