The name “Buttermilk Spring” isn’t poetic—it’s literal. Before refrigeration, before city water systems, this was part of how Richmond worked. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, milkmen used this spring as a natural cooling station — placing cans of milk and buttermilk in the cold water to keep them fresh before heading into the city.
That’s where the name comes from. Many who use the trail that passes in front of it don’t realize why that trail is named “Buttermilk.” It’s for the spring.
Geologically, Buttermilk Spring exists because of the Fall Line — the point where underground water hits a geological boundary and rises to the surface. That gives it three things that mattered in the 1800s: a steady, reliable flow; cold, stable temperature; and a location right between rural supply and urban demand
Perfect for a city that needed to move food without modern infrastructure. Then refrigeration arrived. The city built water systems. Distribution industrialized. And the need for springs like Buttermilk disappeared. But the spring didn’t. Now it sits along the eponymous trail — no longer essential, but still doing exactly what it always did.