Barium Springs is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Iredell County,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, United States. The community is located on the northern border of Troutman along

U.S. Route 21 U.S. Route 21 or U.S. Highway 21 (US 21) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway in the Southeastern United States that travels . The southern terminus is in Hunting Island State Park, South Carolina, south of the ...

. Barium Springs has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, with ZIP code 28010. Native Americans named the area Poison Springs, which later became the name of the community's first post office. After a

mineral spa Mineral spas are destination spa, spa resorts developed around naturally occurring mineral springs. Like seaside resorts, they are mainly used recreationally although they also figured prominently in traditional medicine, prescientific medicine. ...

opened there in the 1880s, the community changed its name to emphasize the medicinal properties of the

barium Barium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in group 2 and is a soft, silvery alkaline earth metal. Because of its high chemical reactivity, barium is never found in nature as a free element. Th ...

and other minerals in its waters. Barium Springs is the site of the Barium Springs Home for Children, a home for disadvantaged and troubled children.

References

Unincorporated communities in Iredell County, North Carolina Unincorporated communities in North Carolina {{IredellCountyNC-geo-stub