Contributed by Mary Hoit Abbe

From Northern Alabama, Historical and Biographical by Smith & Deland
Chicago: Donohue & Henneberry, Printers and Binders, 1888
p. 216

Livingston was founded about the year 1833. It is located upon a beautiful sandy plateau, with the black undulating prairies on the north and east, and the Sucarnatchee River on the south and west. Prior to its settlement by the whites it is said to have been an Indian village and a favorite resort for pastimes of the Red Men.

Its groves of green trees, overspreading leagues of white sand with an occasional patch of grass, were well calculated to lure the wild hunter to rest, the youths in their primitive games of ball, and the dusky lovers of the forest wilds. For many years prior to the civil war, Livingston was a favorite place of residence of the wealthy planters who built handsome houses along its broad, shady street, while their slaves tilled the prairie plantations in the adjacent regions. Thus the place came to be, even in its earliest days, one of social elegance and refinement.

Upon the organization of the county of Sumter, Livingston became the seat of justice, a distinction which it enjoys to-day. It has a population of about 1,200. It is located upon the Alabama Great Southern Division of the famous Queen & Crescent Line, which extends from Cincinnati to New Orleans. South of Livingston nine miles, at the village of York, the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Railroad system crosses the Alabama Great Southern; and north, at Akron, thirty-five miles distant, the Western Railroad of Alabama forms a junction with the line upon which Livingston is located. Of late years the place has become a watering resort and an educational center. While boring for water with which to supply the town, a saline current was reached, which upon investigation and analysis, was found to contain wonderful curative properties. Work was begun on the well on December 13, 1854, and it was not completed until April 1, 1857. It is 1,062 feet deep, and yields about five pints every minute. The water caught at the spout in a clear glass discloses effervescent qualities, as the minute bubbles rise to the surface or cleave to the sides of the vessel.

The water is saline in taste and to most persons is slightly unpleasant when it is first drunk, but becomes quite palatable after drinking it a few times. Its temperature is 68 deg. Fahr., and from this does not vary.

The following is an analysis of the water.

Silicic Acid and Silicates ….(Troy Grs) 1.138
Bi-Carb. of Iron………………………... 0.204
Bi-Carb. of Magnesia………………….. 2.230
Bi-Carb of Lime.………………………. 7.140
Perchloride of Iron……………………... 0.190
Chloride of Magnesium………………… 1.839
Chloride of Calcium……………………. 2.983
Chloride of Potassium………………….. 0.325
Chloride of Sodium……………………. 295.435
Strontia………………………………… Trace
Bromide of Sodium…………………….. 0.980 312.554

Persons resort to the waters from every section of the Union, especially sufferers from dyspepsia and chronic affections of the bowels, and find the waters exceedingly beneficial. Large quantities of the water are also shipped. The well is upon a corner of the public square, which is covered throughout with a carpet of green grass and shaded by broad-branched water oaks. Within every distance of the well are spacious hotels and livery stables.

There are located in the town two schools of repute—a boys’ high school and the Alabama Normal Female College. They are liberally patronized not only by the people of Alabama, but by those of the adjacent States. The town sustains two banks.

In the surrounding sections are some of the most fertile agricultural lands to be found in the famous Black Belt. With its social, religious and educational advantages, Livingston is the peer of any town of the same size in the South.