The Presbyterians had a church building, located on the northeast corner of Main and Walnut Streets in Bellbrook. They decided to discontinue services and sell the building.
In 1883 Andrew Byrd, a local builder, bought the structure intending to convert it into an apartment building.
During the remodeling a basement wall was plastered and the tools were left to soak overnight in a shallow well in the cellar. The next morning the workers found the implements had become magnetized.
When Byrd became aware of the unique water on the property, he changed his plans. He enlarged the building into a two-story 70 room hotel. The facility was named The Magnetic Springs Hotel and the healing properties of the water were advertised.
So many came to Bellbrook to try the waters that adjustments had to be made to provide for them. At first there wasn’t enough food for the crowds. An article on Aug. 29, 1883, in the Torchlight newspaper quoted an article from the Dayton Journal as saying, “The visitors had consumed all the rations which the town contained and many were unable to procure food of any sort.”
People came by horse and buggy but public transportation was needed. Soon trolley routes were set up from Xenia and Dayton to the hotel.
To purchase water there was no charge for the first two gallons. Additional amounts cost five cents a gallon. The hotel, at first, charged $5 a week for room and board for convalescents. On Jan. 1, 1884, the rates increased to $2 per day, $10 per week, or 25 cents if only taking a bath.
An Aug. 10, 1883, newspaper article in the Xenia Semi-Weekly Gazette quoted a patron, “The bathing powers of this water is wonderfully healing … A prickling sensation is experienced by the bather as soon as he enters the water, very much similar to the sensation caused by a small electric battery when one is receiving a shock … no soap is needed to furnish a lather as the water itself produces the same substance.”
The owner of the hotel assured people the properties of the water did not escape after it came from the well because it was not gaseous in nature.
On July 9, 1893, the Magnetic Springs Hotel burned to the ground.
A new 30-room hotel called the Bellbrook Inn was soon built on the southeast corner of Main and Walnut. It opened on July 27, 1896, but was not successful.
This structure was destroyed by another fire on Nov. 25, 1906. It was not rebuilt.
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