# Katalysine Spring, Gettysburg, Pa



## creeper71 (Jan 5, 2010)

Anyone have any info for Katalysine Spring, Gettysburg, Pa? My friend who doesn't have internet asked me to find some info out for him..he is a collector of these bottles..so if you have any bottles for sell let me know! anyways the biggest question he has is who made an where we're these bottles made? he has narrowed it down to somewhere in NY state... thanks to anyone who can help out with this...


----------



## surfaceone (Jan 5, 2010)

Hello Rob,

 You might ask Annie: https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/m-126616/mpage-1/key-/tm.htm#213230

 I'm not exactly sure what information you are looking for. There is a chemical analysis of the Spring Water available here from an 1870's perspectve. It's located under the Springs of Pennsylvania, Gettysburg Spring (about 3/4 of the way down the page.) 
 There's an interesting article in the NY Times Archive. It seems that the Springs had a bit of a checkered ownership, maybe it was the Lithia in the waters. Here's another article from the bowels of the Times.







 Is this like one of your friend's? It's from Reggie's Saratoga Hall of Fame.

 Do you have any photos of your friend's collection? He may not be "online," but you could put his bottles on.


----------



## surfaceone (Jan 5, 2010)

Hey Rob,

 I forgot to include this brief reference; 

 "KATALYSINE SPRINGS HOTEL

 Located on the first day's field, just west of Willoughby Run near modern day Meredith Avenue. The hotel opened in 1869. The building stood three stories tall, and was a spa-resort with elegant accomodations. In 1868, the Gettysburg Lithia Springs Association began bottling and selling the "medicinal waters." The hotel did a brisk business in the 1870's and 1880's but by 1901 had declared bankruptcy. It was destroyed by fire in December 1917." From here.


----------



## creeper71 (Jan 5, 2010)

> ORIGINAL:  surfaceone
> 
> Hello Rob,
> 
> ...


 I'm not sure if that is the exact bottle..can't read left side..he told me there we're known counterfeits back then.. he has all the basic knowledge.. he need to find who made the bottles an what town an state..he is pretty sure it was somewhere in NY state.. he has probly 5-6 different colors of these bottles..I know some of the colors cost him a mint to buy...


----------



## creeper71 (Jan 5, 2010)

> ORIGINAL:  surfaceone
> 
> Hey Rob,
> 
> ...


 Thank you! I have seen the hotel he has sterocards of it.. I think there called stereo cards


----------



## surfaceone (Jan 5, 2010)

> Thank you! I have seen the hotel he has sterocards of it.. I think there called stereo cards


 
 Right, you are, sir. Is this it? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Found here.

 "The Springs Hotel

 Elwood W. Christ

 â€œI use to call the Springs Hotel, â€œMy beautiful Golden Castle, â€œwrote Flo Blocher Arnold (1885-1968) in 1956 recalling the care-free days of her youth frolicking about the grounds of the Gettysburg Springs Hotel, now part of the Gettysburg County Club.

 Located about a mile west of Gettysburg on the south side of the old Chambersburg Pike, the Katalysine Springs had been noted for their medicinal qualities for a long time. Possibly the earliest proponent was the Rev. Charles G. McLean, on whose farm the springs were located, who tried to interest residents in them as early as the 1830s.

 The commercial possibilities of the site, however, did not spring forth until 1869. Eventually, the Gettysburg Katalysine Springs Company was formed by certain gentlemen from New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, and Baltimore who purchased much of the land bordered by Herrâ€™s and Seminary ridges and the Fairfield and Chambersburg roads. They intended to establish a health resort and spa that included a boating lake (they dammed Willoughby Run to create it) and building lots for summer homes. A horse-drawn trolley line that in part utilized present-day Springs Avenue directly linked the hotel with the Gettysburg Railroad station.

 Although initially successful, the spa closed in the 1890s.

 The resortâ€™s crown jewel was the Springs Hotel, completed in June 1869. Based on Gettysburg newspaper articles and contemporary photographs, the hotel was a wood-framed, four-story main building topped with a two-story square cupola, a four-story back building, and a one-story kitchen. A very large dining room, a cotillion hall, menâ€™s and womenâ€™s parlors, and a billiard room were all located on the first floor.

 Mrs. Arnold remembered, as a young girl with her friends, how they â€œsolemnly promised to guard the place with our lives.â€ At the time, only a caretaker lived there, â€œwho slept nearly all day and allowed us to play at will, provided we behaved like ladies and gentlemen.â€ Flo, however, felt that â€œwe may have stretched the point often, when we slid down the banisters from the fourth floor winding around down-down, gracefully making a smooth landing, since there were no newel posts to bring us to an abrupt stop â€¦.

 We roller skated on the long porches [added in 1872] and halls and especially in the large deserted ball room with its marble floor and pillars. In the winter we skated on Springs Dam [dynamited in 1895]. I can still recall Dr. [Henry A.] Stewart sitting by a large very hot bon fire holding his stocking feet up to the heat to try and keep them warm.â€ Flo also recalled the â€œold fashioned speaking tubes, connecting each room in the hotel with the desk in the lobby, where guests registered. I can still hear those noisy whistling speaking tubes, as we tried out our voices over them.â€

 â€œWhen we tired of these locations, we walked a short distance through Reynoldâ€™s Woods to the ruins of the McPherson Farmâ€¦. [But as the] shadows lengthened â€¦ we retraced our steps to the Katalysine Springs for one last cooling drink.â€
 Used to house visitors during the 50th anniversary of the Gettysburg battle in 1913, the Hotel was destroyed by fire on December 13, 1917." From here.

 It seems the 50th Reunion was not without controversy:
 "The Gettysburg Reunion 
 (Column 02)
 Summary: The paper is disgusted with the commercialism that surrounded the recent reunion at Gettysburg, especially the blatant efforts to promote the Katalasyne Springs. The editors criticize a dance ball that was held at the battlefield, and denounce the deterioration of efforts to preserve the battlefield into crass money-making ventures.
 Full Text of Article:
 The re-union of officers who participated in the battle of Gettysburg, was by no means a success. When it was first spoken of we thought the object was good, and that it should be encouraged. Further developments indicated that the real intention was not so much to mark the different points of interest on that battle field, where fell so many of America's bravest and noblest sons, as to advertise the wonderful Katalysine Springs, and make them a profitable speculation. Last week's REPOSITORY referred to this matter, and the reports of what has really occurred have more than justified its position. There was not a despatch sent in relation to the proceedings of this re-union, in which the hotel or springs were not brought before the notice of the public. But few, very few, of the distinguished Generals who won for themselves honor, and for their country victory, in July, 1863, were present. They all hold in sacred memory the courage and patriotism of the brave soldiers and officers who nobly laid down their lives in their efforts to hurl the army of treason Southward, and therefore do not desire to countenance this effort to coin money off the resting places of their dead comrades.

 The Compiler says the "'promised' reception was a failure," and the Star and Sentinel remarks that "the efforts to secure the attendance of prominent rebel officers proved a miserable failure." There were but two rebel officers present, and worse than that, Gen. Lee and others in replying to the letters of invitation which had been sent them "snubbed" the Memorial Association. The next time the virtues of the water that remained hidden until recently, are to be announced, let them not be mentioned in connection with the graves of the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac. Let the managers of this association take warning from this lesson. Cemeteries and grave yards are not the places for carousing, dancing and mirth. They are solemn cities of the dead, where repose the remains of many a fond husband, or affectionate son or darling brother, and outside of the stockholders of the Katalysine Springs Company, there is no man who is not indignant at the course pursued by those who were so forgetful of that which respect for the feelings of others demands. Gettysburg Battlefield belongs to no association, to no particular men, but it is the property of the whole American people, and they will not suffer searchers after temporary notoriety, or those whose sole ambition is accumulation of money, regardless of the means by which they attain it, to rob them of what is theirs.

 The REPOSITORY does not stand alone in condemning this movement. All the best papers of the country, regardless of party, have denounced it." From here.

 One last item: " KATALYSINE SPRINGS HOTEL

           Located in Cumberland Township just west of Gettysburg, the splendid three-story Gettysburg Katalysine Springs Hotel was erected during the three months of Spring 1869. With elegant accommodations, a wide range of facilities and entertainment and "modern privies" for each room, the spa-resort attracted clients from near and far, especially from cities east and south. It was asserted by some that the near by spring had "curative" qualities. In 1868, the Gettysburg Lithia Springs Association began bottling and selling the "medicinal waters." The resort thrived in the 1870s and 1880s, but by 1901 it declared bankruptcy. The building was destroyed by fire on December 17, 1917." From this place.

 Now, wouldn't that be a great permission to get?


----------



## creeper71 (Jan 5, 2010)

> ORIGINAL:  surfaceone
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 yes that is the exact stereocard he has... yeah that would be a dream dig there!


----------

