The Colonial Mineral Springs was one of Martinsville s upper-end spas, offering an attractive setting and use of mineral water therapy at a relatively inexpensive price. The sanitarium stood at West Washington and Mulberry Streets and was visible from the town square.

     The Mitchell family originally owned the Colonial property, on which an artesian well was drilled in 1905. They combined a brick apartment house and a neighboring yellow frame house to the west into one large sanitarium. Men and women enjoyed mineral baths, vapor baths, a cooling room, and Turkish baths. The sanitarium's formal grand opening took place on a Saturday evening in early February 1906. The Mitchells began making improvements on the Colonial within a year of its opening. The exterior was painted an elegant combination of yellow with white trim. The rooming capacity was increased from 65 to 76 and electric lighting was added throughout the building. A sidewalk, curbing, and a sheltered porch with seats from the front door to the curb were added to the front. The Mitchells also improved the landscaping, adding a walking path that led up to and around an ornamental bronze fountain, with a four feet wide concrete base, in the middle of the attractive lawn.

     Although the Colonial was not the playground of the wealthy, it did attract an upper middle-class clientele. During its heyday in the 1910s and 1920s the spa was the site of wedding receptions, meetings of literature clubs, intellectual societies, conventions, banquets, and luncheons. Jap Jones, the famous Brooklyn, Indiana entrepreneur and politician, purchased the Colonial in the 1920s. In March 1929 extensive additions and renovations in the Colonial s lobby and hallways were completed under Jones supervision. With its soft color scheme and tasteful furniture, the Colonial became known for its attractive lobby.

    In March 1940 Michael and Dolly Cohn purchased the Colonial slightly over a month after the Cohn-Barnard Sanitarium (originally the Barnard Sanitarium) on West Morgan Street burned down. Michael's father David had also owned the Hill-Cohn Sanitarium, also on West Morgan Street. The Cohns renamed the Colonial the Cohn-Barnard Sanitarium and Hotel, causing tremendous confusion.

     The Cohns chose to renovate and redecorate the Cohn-Barnard #2 rather than rebuild the Cohn-Barnard #1. Michael stated that he planned to pipe mineral water from the Old Barnard well to the new Cohn- Barnard. The Cohn-Barnard opened for business at the beginning of June 1940. The new interior color scheme was bone white with mahogany trim, and the lobby was furnished with overstuffed chairs and sofas. The new focal point in the room was a pair of twin fireplace mantels crowned with square unframed mirrors and decorated with colorful pottery. The writing room off the lobby had yellow and gray walls, American walnut chairs and desks, and brown and white pinup lamps. The solarium, which ran along the easy side of the lobby, furnished with carpet, steel chromium and red leather chairs. The stairways were white and mahogany and carpeted in national blue.

     The Cohn-Barnard Sanitarium and Hotel was renamed the Cohn Mineral Springs of Martinsville prior to 1955, when it was sold to Dr. and Mrs. David Eisenberg. They changed the Cohn Mineral Springs name to the Artesian Mineral Springs and operated it for seven years. The sanitarium industry had waned dramatically following World War II and did not recover. The Artesian closed in 1962, and stood empty for a year. Dr. Eisenberg moved his medical office to a new location and had the Artesian torn down in 1963. The Home Bank building now occupies the site of the Colonial.