• Sebring, Florida, is a mid-sized city smack in the middle of the state. The town was founded by George Sebring in 1912.
• In the summer of 1921, a crew was hired to drill a well in the middle of the industrial district, adjacent to the downtown district. The drill hit water about 60 feet (18 m) down, and the drilling crew all celebrated. It was hot that day, and the sweaty workers decided to cool off with some of the water that was flowing out of the freshly drilled hole. Amazingly, however, the water coming up out of the hole was hot. HOT! After the shock wore off, the owner of the drilling company saw dollar signs flashing in front of his eyes.
• Word spread. People flocked. City leaders gaped.
• Everyone knew about the famous Hot Springs Resort in Arkansas that drew visitors from all over the country. What if Sebring, Florida could rival them? The town founders had just recently launched an advertising campaign designed to lure Northerners to the cool and refreshing waters of the lakes surrounding Sebring. What if they could add a mineral hot springs resort to their repertoire of attractions? This was a project that they were certain would put Sebring on the map.
• Week after week, the well continued to pump out water at 40 gallons (118 L) per minute at temperatures hovering around 118°F (48°C) Word began to spread, and city officials sent out press releases that ran in newspapers around the country.
• Investors put their heads together and began to design a world-class health resort. Meanwhile, tents went up all around the new spring to offer shelter. A café sprang up to feed the steady stream of visitors. Certainly, that stream of tourists would turn into a river as soon as winter hit the northern climes, bringing the Yankees down to Florida.
• The only problem was that the stream of hot water was located in the industrial district, next to the water plant, near the power plant, and right across the street from the local ice plant. It would be far better if the hot springs resort were located closer to the picturesque downtown district, a short distance away.
• In September, a geologist was summoned to help the municipality pinpoint a hot water spring in a better location. A new well was sunk in the desired location. The drill hit water at about 60 feet down. The entire town held its collective breath. Then, water spurted up – but it was cold water. COLD! Another well went down nearby. Cold AGAIN! The local newspaper tried to settle rattled nerves, printing an article confidently declaring that these failed attempts “demonstrated that hot water wells are not common even around Sebring, which just goes to show that Sebring really has the genuine article.”
• Three months passed, while investors schemed and drillers drilled and city officials plotted and planned. Then, disaster struck: the local ice plant suffered a malfunction. The entire plant was shut down while equipment was repaired. Alarmingly, Sebring’s famed hot water spring right across the street immediately ran cold. Citizens gasped. The hot water failed to return until the ice plant started up again some weeks later.
• Alas, the whole thing had been a mistake. The ice plant used quite a lot of water to cool down its machinery. The run-off drained into the ground, flowed under the street, and resurfaced precisely where the well had been sunk.
• That was the end of Sebring’s famous, failed foray into the health resort industry. Instead, today, the town is most well-known for the world-class Sebring International Raceway.
