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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 13, 2006 Springs once tourist attraction By ROBERT PLAIN for the Mail Tribune ASHLAND — It was 1956 when the Helman Sulfur Baths closed its doors after serving as one of Ashland’s premier tourist attractions for 60 years. Throughout the early part of the 20th century, the warm, sulfurous, white water that still bubbles from these springs in the northeast corner of Ashland was regarded as medicinal, holding the power to cure joint pains, stomach ailments and skin disease, according to an article in the Table Rock Sentinel from October of 1981. "Reports of the magical waters spread throughout Southern Oregon and soon dozens of sufferers arrived at the cow pasture to try the waters," according to the article. "Eventually it was determined that the mud baths cured not only rheumatism and sciatica, but skin disease and stomach trouble disappeared as well." Americans Indians are said to have utilized the sulfur baths for their healing powers long before Abel Helman acquired the land and turned it into his cow pasture, according to the article. By 1886, the warm springs had become a popular tourist retreat, and Grant Helman, the new owner, "deciding the visitors might prefer a little more privacy as they wallowed in the mud," built a bath house with three tubs in three separate rooms. He later built the Valley’s first swimming pool, fed by the springs. Advertisement "When more and more children and adults arrived for daily dips, Grant began charging a dime for the privilege," according to the article. "Helman Baths was born." Otis Helman, who succeeded Grant, put in a public park and a baseball diamond and planted maple trees for shade. "After automobiles became popular, he constructed cabins for tourists," the article says. "For many years, the playgrounds and the pool provided a diversion for the people of Southern Oregon." Michael Dawkins, a native Ashlander who is now a member of the planning commission, remembers having his first swimming lesson in the Helman Baths pool. He described the odiferous sulfur water as being "funky." (Sulfur has the potent odor of rotten eggs.) As Dawkins grew up, he remembers rumors of older students sneaking a swim in the pool after the facility was closed in 1956. Bill Elheart, who was born in Ashland in 1922, said he, too, had his first swimming lesson at the Helman Baths. Like Dawkins, he said he started swimming here before he "graduated" to the Jackson Hot Springs and Twin Plunges, a series of pools that were where the Ashland Food Co-op’s parking lot is now. "It’s where I learned to swim when I was in kindergarten," he said. "That must have been 1927 or 1928." He said there was a kid’s pool and a bigger pool at Helman Baths. The bigger pool, he said, had a diving board, a slide, a trapeze and a rope swing. He also remembers a tank with a ladle for scoring a drink of the sulfur water, which he remembers as being clear, not white as the Table Rock Sentinel article claims. Between the 1950s and the 1980s the facility fell into disrepair. In 1979, some of the original buildings burned down in a fire. In 1980, Alia Eggert, who is still listed as the owner on the planning application, had the pool covered with the current steel structure. Although the Helman Baths are no longer open to the public, Devian Aguirre, the developer who proposes to turn the site into a subdivision, said the current owner, a relative of Eggert, still swims in the pool in the summertime. Robert Plain is a reporter for the Ashland Daily Tidings. He can be reached at 482-3456 or [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Computer Security Discount Hotel Reservations Casinos Canada dvd-r Generic Viagra Myspace Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Student Loans Sudoku Online Advertisement s Advertisement