Dent Springhouse

This simple structure from about 1845 is a rare example of a once common and necessary part of rural life.

This springhouse was constructed about 1845, when the Springland farmhouse, for which it served as an outbuilding, was built. At the time, such a building was a necessity of rural life—a springhouse was vital for protecting water sources and providing cold storage for food. The one-story building was located within the base of the sloping site, allowing it to sit just a few inches above the spring running beneath. As the building's use requires, it is set low to the ground and shaded from the sun by mature trees. The water runs through a masonry "aqueduct" on the west side of the building, consisting of a dug-out spring or well from which the water drains to a wide channel. A second water source drains into the channel from the northwest, with the dug-out well to the southwest.

The Dent springhouse on Springland Lane is significant as one of the surviving examples of this form of outbuilding in DC—as far as can be determined, only two other farm springhouses still stand in the District of Columbia.

DC Inventory: June 25, 2002
National Register: August 21, 2003

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3517 Springland Lane, NW