Red Boiling Springs

History

The area was originally known as Salt Lick Creek due to a salt lick that was located approximately four miles northwest of current day Red Boiling Springs. The salt lick attracted animals, American Indians, and other people. Among the people who came to hunt the animal trails was Daniel Boone, who reportedly carved his name and the year 1775 into a beech tree in a nearby community. The area was first surveyed, and land grants were first awarded in the mid-1780s. The first post office was established in 1829 and named the Salt Lick Creek post office. In 1847, the post office was renamed "Red Boiling Springs." Aunt Sooky's Salve was a widely distributed product that was manufactured in Red Boiling Springs under the supervision of 'Aunt' Sooky Goad, who also claimed to be the original discoverer of the benefits of the Red Boiling Springs water. Early in life, she had dropsy and claimed to be cured by drinking the sulphur water. In 1914, a Nashville man wrote an article stating that Shepherd Kiby (Kirby), the brother of Goad, discovered that washing his eyes with the spring water reduced eye irritation, but Goad's use of the water seems to have preceded that of Kirby. In 1873, a stagecoach line was established between Red Boiling Springs and Gallatin, where there was a railroad stop. This likely led to renewed commercial interest in the springs, and by 1876, a general store owner named James Bennett had purchased the springs tract and had built a hotel. Bennett's hotel consisted of a row of log cabins flanking a central frame dining hall. In the late 1870s, Nashville newspapers first started mentioning Bennett's hotel and its guests' activities, as it was vogue during the Gilded Age for newspapers to report on daily happenings at upper class and upper-middle class…

Geography

Red Boiling Springs is located at (36.532509, -85.849742). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Macon County High School
  High · Lafayette · 967 students · 17.9:1 ratio
• Macon County Junior High School
  Middle · Lafayette · 771 students · 17.9:1 ratio
• Red Boiling Springs Elementary
  Elementary · Red Boiling Springs · 350 students · 15.9:1 ratio
• Red Boiling Springs School
  High · Red Boiling Spg · 334 students · 11.1:1 ratio