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Postcar of the Well ca 1910Beersheba Well was first drilled in 1870. One of the things which made a successful camp meeting site was the providing of plenty of fresh water for drinking, cooking and washing. The prime real estate locations during the early years of Ocean Grove, therefore was not the ocean front properties, but those closest to the wells. Water was carried back home, generally by the children of the family, in two wooden buckets suspended from a yoke that was worn across the shoulders. At the time Ocean Grove was famed for its many fresh water wells, making it a desirable location to live or visit.

WellAs the community grew, however, the Camp Meeting Association's concerns turned to the health issues at hand. Although by 1883 there were approximately 800 tube wells in the community's homes and 4 1/2 miles of sewerage pipes laid in the town, a concerted effort was made to find a reliable and safe source of drinking water. At the head of Fletcher Lake, a 4 inch diameter well was bored 420 feet into the ground and, after six months of drilling, an abundance of fresh water was found. The water was under such high pressure that it would rise at a rate of 43 gallons in two minutes 35 seconds in pipes marked at 18 feet 9 inches above ground and rose to a total height of 28 feet. This made it perfect for providing water to the residents of the community and Ocean Grove began a period of rapid growth.

Beersheba well originally had a common pump with a tin cup attached. Today the symbol of the Historical Society of Ocean Grove, the well would gain fame throughout the world in the early 20th Century as a symbol of Temperance and the Temperance movement. It was on August 20, 1904 that Carrie Nation gave her famous Ocean Grove Temperance Lecture. Today the well, a fresh water drinking fountain, and the structure protecting it are maintained by the HSOG.

 

 


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