Mt.
Clemens has been known as Bath City USA for more than a
century. People flocked to Mt. Clemens to soothe their bodies
in the healing mineral waters of the Michigan Basin. The
discovery of the healing properties of the waters was first noted
by Dorr Kellogg in 1870. Through knowledge that the sea water
had relieved his eczema, he turned to the waters of Mt. Clemens to
soothe his diseased skin. After a series of baths he became
cured. The first bath house, "The Original", was built in
1873, and had a well that could produce 1,000 barrels a day of
water. Visitors and residents alike took to the baths, and
the hotel & bath house industry took off. The last bath
house providing mineral baths, The Arethusa, burned in 1976, ending
the bath era of Mt. Clemens.