The Sprague Well, believed to be the first drilled artesian well in Bayfield County, was completed at 119 feet 8 inches in April 1903 by Monroe H. Sprague at the mill office of the Akeley–Sprague Lumber Co. Flow from the 4 inch casing was rated at 224 gallons per minute, so free of minerals it was piped directly to the saw mill boilers. In 1956 the flow was measured at 54 gallons per minute from a one inch pipe and tested 104 parts per million total mineral content. Long a fresh water treat for Washburn residents, it remains a landmark of early lumbering days on Chequamegon Bay.