Shelby Once Had Four Public Wells on the Court Square

In the 1880s, Shelby had no running water system at all, and all water for public use came from wells. According to Benjamin Baxter Suttle, there were four public wells located directly on the Court Square, one in front of each courthouse door. Beside each well was a watering trough where horses and other animals could drink. When brick buildings were being constructed around the square, water for mixing mortar was drawn by hand in buckets from these wells and rolled across the street in barrels to the job sites. Every major building project in early Shelby depended on those four wells.