Zem Zem Springs

File:Zem Zem California post office application 1884.jpg

Zem Zem is an archaic place name in the Berryessa Valley in Napa County, California, United States; the name is derived from the Zamzam Well ({{langx|ar|بئر زمزم|translit=Biʾru Zamzam}}) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Originally applied to Zem Zem Springs, a sulphured spring, the springs eventually hosted a small resort, which in turn garnered a post office. Zem Zem, California was originally located in neighboring Lake County but a boundary change moved it into Napa.{{Cite web |title=Beyond the Hat: Napa County Post Offices, 1850 – 1900 – Napa County Historical Society |url=https://napahistory.org/4565/ |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=napahistory.org}} Nearby Zim Zim Creek and Zim Zim Falls,{{Cite web |last=P |first=Cory |date=2017-03-31 |title=Zooming to Zim Zim Falls |url=https://thenorcalhiker.wordpress.com/2017/03/31/zooming-to-zim-zim-falls/ |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=The NorCal Hiker |language=en}} in the Knoxville Wildlife Area, are alternate-spelling derivatives of the original Zem Zem.{{Cite web |title=Lake County Towns |url=http://www.cagenweb.org/lake/laketowns.htm |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=www.cagenweb.org}}

The site was also a source of onyx marble, according to a California state geologist, who reported there were specimens from Zem Zem in the museum of the State Mining Bureau.{{Cite web |last=Bradley |first=Walter W. |year=1910 |title=Mines and mineral resources of the counties of Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Marin, Napa, Solano, Sonoma, Yolo |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b79684&seq=122&q1=Onyx+marble |access-date=2024-01-29 |pages=137–138 |language=en |via=HathiTrust |hdl=}}

Water profile

According to a 1915 report by a U.S. government geologist, "A small spring of strongly sulphureted water is situated near the road between Knoxville and Monticello, about 5 miles southeast of Knoxville. The spring was of more importance during the days of active mining in the Knoxville district than it is now, but it is still a camping place for teamsters. The water is too highly mineralized, however, to be palatable, an early analysis indicating a content of 21,000 parts per million of total solids".{{Cite book |last=Waring |first=Gerald Ashley |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t0ks7jc63&seq=9 |title=Springs of California |date=January 1915 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |series=U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey Water-Supply Papers |location=Washington, D.C. |doi=10.3133/wsp338 |pages=45–46 |language=en-us |id=Water Supply Paper No. 338 |access-date=2023-11-11 |via=HathiTrust}} {{PD-inline}}

References

Category:Springs of Napa County, California

Category:History of Napa County, California

Zem Zem Springs

Water profile

See also

References