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Vintage Postcards of Indiana Health FacilitiesIn 1887, Sylvanus Barnard was drilling for oil near Martinsville, but instead of oil, his workmen bored into an aquifer of foul-smelling water. This mineral water transformed Martinsville into one of the leading health-resort destinations in the nation. The first to open its doors was Barnard Sanitarium, in 1888%u2014and six more facilities were created during the next decade. People soon flocked to the small town%u2019s many spas. And they sought relief from rheumatism, acne, depression, impotence, stomach troubles, as well as other unpleasant chronic ailments. Each Martinsville sanitarium offered mineral baths, vapor baths, Turkish baths, Swedish massage, physical therapy, and electric treatments%u2014often supervised by physicians. One establishment even had its own diagnostic laboratory and radiology department. The spas catered to everyone%u2014from working class Midwesterners, to industrial moguls, political leaders, the idle rich, as well as a number of gangsters. They provided plush surroundings, with velvet draperies, terrazzo floors, and lavish banquets. Two sanitariums served the African-American population exclusively, such as the facility Willis Clark ran out of his home. As a resort town, Martinsville%u2019s heyday began declining at the beginning of the 20th century, and plummeted during the Great Depression. It didn%u2019t help that the local interurban street-car line was abandoned, making the town much less accessible. Then, after WWII, as antibiotics became the rage, health spas everywhere were permanently shuttered. Over an 80-year period, there were 13 different resorts operating within a one-mile radius of Martinsville. The last to close was Home Lawn Sanitarium in 1968. In 2002, the always foulsmelling aquifer known for its healing waters, was found to have become dangerously contaminated with dry cleaning chemicals.Barnard Sanitarium%u2014%u2014Martinsville, Indiana%u2014%u2014In operation from 1888 to 1940This was the first sanitarium to open in Martinsville, and sat alongside the Big Four Railroad tracks. The floodof 1913 came up to the bottom of the tall windows facing the railroad. It was sold to Michael Cohn in 1926.Sanitariums and Spas