This article was originally written by Bobby Rose in the early 1970's.
Submitted by Norwood Thorpe
Spout Springs is located on Highway #82, about 9 miles south-east of Irvine. There were several springs involved in the title "Spout Springs Community", but when state road #82 was built, it left the largest and most famous one on the property of Sam and Laura Tuttle almost exactly half way between the two county seats, Irvine and Stanton, Powell County. This spring comes out of a hill on which there is no residence, other buildings, or livestock. It is a large stream of never failing, very cold limestone water. It has never in history (white man or Indian) been known to go dry. It is famous over numbers of states as the most delicious water ever tasted. People come there (by permission of the Tuttles) from far and wide and not only to get a drink, but haul away barrels and barrels of water. First there was a wooden tank to catch the overflow which came out of the hill in split hollowed out cedar logs and in the "horse days" everyone stopped there to water horses. A concrete overflow trough was later built and is still in use.
The property was formerly owned by the McKinney family. There is a story, but no one knows the details, that the first Estill County death in the Civil War was at this spring where some soldiers had stopped to drink. The opposing army fired at them from a hill across the road. One man dropped at the spring and is buried in the little neighboring church yard of Jackson's Chapel. He is believed to have been a Southern soldier.
The Spout Springs Post Office was established August 5, 1892, with John M. Elkin as postmaster. Other postmasters were: Washington G. Patrick, Ulysses G. Elkin, James H. Dawson, Richard H. Curtis, J.W. Barnett, Asa Barnett, Henry Winburn, George G. Ware, Franklin Morginson, Thomas S. McKinney, William L. Byrd and Russell S. Christopher served until the office was discontinued November 30, 1937. The residents were to get mail from Irvine.
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