Sulphur Springs

Piedmont is on Farm Road 3090 seven miles west of Anderson in west central Grimes County. In 1843 William W. Arrington bought the site and built bathhouses and one-room cottages for a campground and health resort. There were three springs of sulphur water, named White, Middle, and Black or Bitter, after the strength of the minerals in the water. The area was called Sulphur Springs until 1850. In 1858 Arrington sold the property to H. Lee and C. S. Taliaferro, and they sold it to Leander Cannon in 1860. By then a four-story rock and wood hotel had been built, with a hundred rooms, broad verandas, a ballroom, and a turreted roof. Sam Houston, Gen. John B. Magruder, Gen. Pierre G. T. Beauregard, and Governor Marmaduke of Kentucky stayed there at various times. In 1865 John G. Walker's Greyhound division of the Confederate Army camped at the springs for six days. In 1871 John K. Spears bought the inn at a bankruptcy sale for $5,940. Thereafter the site was used as a campground. The inn deteriorated and was finally torn down.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.