Historic marker that has been removed from the site read :
Named for the Greenwell family, a resort with a hotel, pavilion and cottages was developed here in the 1850’s with stage service to and from Baton Rouge. General John C. Breckinridge’s Confederate troops camped here in August 1862. The hotel burned during the Civil War, and a later attempt to revive the resort failed. The state tuberculosis hospital was established here in 1923.
Further excerpt from A Historical Sketch of Greenwell Springs Louisiana 1850-1950 published 1993Â :
….located at the end of Spring Street (present North Service Entrance to the Greenwell Springs Hospital). Around 1965, an effort was made to empty the spring enclosure of the sand and gravel poured in for the purpose of creating a sewerage filter bed, The sand and gravel had, indeed, protected the spring site. The individual spring sites were found to still be intact and enclosed in concrete, as noted in the old photograph showing the floor of the Spring House. Restoration could not proceed without further resources and as a result of this the whole enclosure was allowed to fill up again with dirt, sand and gravel. The area is again overgrowth with underbrush and trees.
At one time the local park authority discussed restoring the spring but site has since been purchased by city school system for the construction of a high school.
