Silurian Spring

Silurian Spring is a natural flowing spring on an elevation 50 feet above the Fox River. David Jackson, the first postmaster of Waukesha, then known as Prairieville, built his log cabin west of the present-day spring and used its water. David Smeaton named and promoted the spring in 1874, and from then through the 1930s Silurian water was bottled there and shipped nationwide. A landscaped park once occupied the site, with a bath house, pond, roller coaster, bandstand, and bottling plant, and guests came to hear concerts and drink the water. The Casino Theater stood behind the spring, where popular touring plays were presented every summer. Built in 1926, it has been restored numerous times since the city acquired the park in 1941 and remains a reminder of Waukesha’s Spring Era; it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Local Waukesha Landmark.

Waukesha, Wisconsin · United States