Rock Spring House, Governor Dodge State Park – Dodgeville, Wisconsin

July 16, 2010 /

©2010 John Wanserski for Creative Juice LLC
“This old-fashioned refrigerator stands on the former Alex Stephens farmstead. Five generations of Stephens family members used this spring house to keep their milk and food cool. It was built in the 1850s. The rusted pipes leading from the structure are the remains of an old hydraulic ram water pump system. This system, motivated only by water power, allowed the Stephens’ to pump water up hill into storage tanks for home and livestock use. It operated until the 1920s, when electricity became available in rural areas.”