Iron water named Hughes Springs before the railroad arrived

At Spring Park, a historical marker explains the unusual old name: Chalybeate Springs. Reece and Robert Hughes arrived in 1839, and iron salts in the water gave the springs that name. Reece founded a settlement there in 1847.

The water was one part of the iron story. Reece built an iron furnace near the springs in 1856, and the Confederate government operated it from 1863 to 1865. The furnace made local iron a working industry as well as a name. The early settlement also supported a boarding school and church camp meetings before it faded. People came for schooling as well as worship.

The railroad supplied the next beginning. A station opened in 1876, turning the area into a shipping point for farms. In 1878, the place gained a post office and promoted the springs as a health resort. Historical accounts use that year for the start of present-day Hughes Springs.

The name joins the two chapters neatly: the Hughes family who settled there and the mineral water that put the place on early maps.