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History · Magnetic Springs

57% of Magnetic Springs’ homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1944 on, and the census since 1890.

0on the National Register
57%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Magnetic Springs’ archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Magnetic Springs’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Old housesHalf of Magnetic Springs’ homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 373 in 1990; 267 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · The story

How Magnetic Springs came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Magnetic Springs.

Read it all →

Magnetic Springs was platted in 1879 when underground springs were discovered there. The community earned its name from the mineral waters used for healing processes. Word spread across the country of these springs, and tourists began visiting from locations nationwide; even foreigners appeared occasionally. Hotel resorts sprang up, and the village boomed. Following the discovery of modern medicinal cures, including the vaccine for polio, the interest in natural healing remedies faded, and the city's tourism industry collapsed. By the early 1980s, the hotel resorts had been torn down.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Magnetic Springs, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 373

Peaked at 373 in 1990; 267 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Magnetic Springs’ Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Magnetic Springs, 1880 to 1990

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Kokosing post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Kokosing post office closes
  4. 1881Post officeThe Magnitic Springs post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1912In the archiveBridge over Boges Creek
  7. 1922In the archiveMagnetic Springs P.O. and Residence
  8. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1990CensusPopulation peaks at 373
By decade

Magnetic Springs, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1920s6 items
Bridge over Boges Creek1912Bridge over Boges CreekPostcardBridge over Boges Creek1912Bridge over Boges CreekPostcardMagnetic Springs P.O. and Residence1922Magnetic Springs P.O. and ResidencePostcardMagnetic Springs P.O. and Residence1922Magnetic Springs P.O. and ResidencePostcardSager Hotel and Bath House1922Sager Hotel and Bath HousePostcardSager Hotel and Bath House1922Sager Hotel and Bath HousePostcard
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Magnetic Springs on the map, 1944 to 1973

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Magnetic Springs. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Magnetic Springs on the 1944 USGS mapMagnetic Springs on the 1961 USGS mapMagnetic Springs on the 1973 USGS map1944Richwood sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Magnetic Springs.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bridge over Boges Creek
Retake this viewBridge over Boges Creek, 1912

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Magnetic Springs’ page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Magnetic Springs

Nobody well known was born in Magnetic Springs itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Rutherford B. HayesPresident of the United States from 1877 to 1881 · b. 1822
F. Sherwood RowlandAmerican chemist · b. 1927
W
Wallace Clement SabineAmerican physicist · b. 1868
Edwin Grant ConklinAmerican biologist and zoologist · b. 1863
Cornelia Cole FairbanksSecond Lady of the United States from 1905 to 1… · b. 1852
Horace Newton AllenAmerican missionary, diplomat, physician · b. 1858
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Another post office, Kokosing, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Kokosing
1880–1881
Magnitic Springs
1881–today
18801950today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Magnetic Springs’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBridge over Boges Creek: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Magnetic Springs’ history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.