Schodack Valley Spring / Schodack N.Y. 12033

 I spent the last few days doing some research and  collecting near and around The Moordenkill stream in and around the Castleton / Schodack township area. An interesting area which I have been itching to explore in more detail for quite a while. I received a good room deal at the Franklin Square Inn  in Troy , NY so I had a good set of digs from which to set off from. Spent a long day in the Moordenkill Gorge  , photos , some interesting rock finds which I may discuss at another time. On one of my passes along Schodack Valley road I passed  a small abandoned dwelling. A few minutes later my memory was jogged. I went back took out the Vietnam Style Tomahawk I have in my bag  and chopped away some trees of paradise. There it was , a once famous spring in this area. Old field notes would provide more history. This spring has been active for well over a century. Generally it has been referred to as the Schodack Valley Spring.  Old interviews in the sixties and early seventies revealed that this was a well traveled road 70 plus yrs ago. When horses were still used for farming or teams of oxen it was stated to me that no animal would pass by this roadside spring without drinking their full. Many people would travel to it for drinking water as it was considered widely as a very sweet spring. It was even considered in a strange way to be a health drink. If one had a sick animal that wasn't eating well a pale of this water could be restorative. As the yrs passed it was used for many people as a good drinking water and was used in apple cider making. I  have even talked with WWII vets who told me it was a sobbering up place when that generation finished up their night on the town so to speak. A couple of slurps of water , throw some on you face you felt more sobber already. Hence my last previous visit to this watering hole. Circa July or August in the yr 1970. I and a couple of friends stopped by for a late night drink and a cold splash on the face.That is an old memory. But remember young drinking was not as frowned upon as it is now by  various parts of society. Anyway it appears that this spring going into an old barrel is not  as nearly used at it once was. I can't vouch for it's purity but I did take a short drink and threw some water on my face and sunburned red neck. So far no ill effects. These sort of springs are neglected in many areas but were once where communities might form around with a reliable source of good healthy water. If I was going to start a business today I might buy that property and start a spring water company.....God knows how many spring waters are on the market but this might have been worth the risk capitol.