Buffington,Kentucky was described as an attractive town in the midst of rolling hills covered with highly productive fields. It was located at the end of Garvey Avenue in Elsmere, KY. The Ke-o-me-zu Springs was the original name given to the Springs. The Springs were later renamed Buffington Springs by the new owner, a West Virginia-born Methodist minister. Rev. George Nicholas Buffington. His family also was a partner in the Lovell & Buffington Tobacco Co. of Covington. George Buffington was the president of the Citizens Bank of Erlanger.
The Springs were mineral springs and became a popular medical vacation site in the late 1800’s. Native Americans from Kentucky and Ohio were the first to use the Springs. They came centuries before. In 1894 the Queen and Crescent Railroad advertisement read, within a 35 minute ride from Cincinnati in the midst of scenery whose great natural beauty has been heightened by skillful touches here and there, are three beautiful springs.
The Buffington Springs were located beside the Queen and Crescent Railroad (Cincinnati Southern Railway) along what is today Garvey Avenue in Elsmere. There was a large hotel, several bath houses and various forms of recreation including a beautiful lake where fishing and boating were enjoyed. All of the spacious buildings were of the finest construction, large pillars in the front, spiral staircases leading to the second floor with the hotel room accommodations comparable to those found in major cities. In 1910, the hotel at the Springs was destroyed by fire, never to reopen.
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