Kissingen Springs, also spelled Kissengen, was a natural spring in southwest Florida near the northern end of the Peace River south of Bartow. Once one of the river’s defining water sources, it discharged about 20 million gallons a day from the Floridan Aquifer and later became a popular place for swimming, boating, picnics, and dances. Settled near by the Burr family in 1886, the site was also valued for waters believed to have medicinal benefits. As groundwater withdrawals increased in the late 1930s, aquifer pressure dropped, and the spring was declared inactive in 1950. A 1962 sinkhole further hindered any possible restoration, and the spring remains an important environmental landmark.