Radium Springs, Georgia

{{Short description|Unincorporated community in Georgia, U.S.}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}

File:Radium Springs, Jul 2020 4.jpg

Radium Springs is an unincorporated community located on the southeast outskirts of Albany in Dougherty County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Albany Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Radium Springs is best known as the location of one of the "Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia": the largest natural spring in the state. The deep blue waters of Radium Springs flow at {{convert|70,000|USgal|liter|abbr=off|sp=us}} per minute and empty into the Flint River.{{cite book | url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/r.pdf| title=Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins | publisher=Winship Press | author=Krakow, Kenneth K. | year=1975 | location=Macon, GA | pages=184 | isbn=0-915430-00-2}} There is also an extensive underwater cavern system.

The water contains trace amounts of radium, and the water temperature is {{cvt|68|F|C}} year-round.

Prior to the discovery of radium in the water in 1925, the site was known as "Blue Springs".

File:View from hotel, Radium Springs, Albany, Ga. (8342836887).jpg

A casino was built overlooking the springs in the 1920s, and Radium Springs was a popular spa and resort. Northerners traveling by train to spend winter in Florida often stopped to swim in the springs, which were thought at the time to be healthful because of the radium content.{{cite book|last1=Lew|first1=Kristi|title=Radium|date=2009|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=9781435850729|page=11|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KvBWm6Kpij0C&q=Radium+Springs%2C+Georgia&pg=PA11|language=en}} The casino was severely damaged when the river flooded in 1998 and again in 1999 and was demolished in 2003.