Commencing February 1, 1881, I continued the work through the spring and summer. My tools were so inferior that I almost had to abandon the well, especially when a boring tool, a reamer was broken off in the bottom of the pipe. My well seemed to be a failure and was ridiculed by some of the citizens of Albany. I remember one day on the street that a Mr. Bazemore, a warehouseman, stopped me and laughingly said that he had an injunction against me, because I was trying to rival Noah,—the difference was that Noah wished to rescue from a flood while I wanted to flood the State. Such ridicule only made me more than ever determined to go on. With great difficulty I succeeded in getting the reamer out. At about the depth of four hundred feet I reached the water-tight stratum, a deposit of deep-sea ooze known as blue marl. I had been looking for this water-tight envelope and felt greatly encouraged.
On August 1st, I returned to Macon leaving word to continue work until my return, which would be within a few days. On August 4th, at ten o'clock in the morning I received the following telegram, "Water flowing at seven gallons per minute." I was greatly gratified at this, which was a triumph for my belief and for my perseverance. I took the next train accompanied by Mr. Harry Edwards of the Macon Telegraph. We arrived at Ducker Station the next morning, Sunday, and went out at once to see the little well. It was an inspiring and gratifying sight to see the water flowing from the pipe.
The country was in the grasp of a parching drouth, and presented the appearance of a country in a great need of the blessing of water. A great number of awe-struck negroes had assembled. They regarded me with great wonder and astonishment. It was thought that the Almighty had informed me to strike at that special spot, and I was likened to Moses, who in the wilderness struck the rock from which water gushed out. The news spread. The well was visited by many people who came to wonder and drink the splendid water. An account of my success was published in many of the State papers. The first being the Macon Telegraph with an article by Mr. Edwards in which I was much praised.
This gem of a little well, five hundred and fifty feet deep, of the purest life-giving water, of less than one hundred grains of any substance to the gallon, flowed nineteen years without diminishing. Its diminution at the end of this time was caused by chemical corrosion of the pipe, a hole being made, through which the water passed into the great sand bed above the water-tight strata. I successfully telescoped the pipe with a smaller one. The well had only ceased to flow two or three days.
LOG OF THE WELL OF JOHN P. FORT
U. S. Geological Survey
| Thickness | Depth | |
| Feet | Feet | |
| A few feet of surface clay, followed by limestone bowlders | 65 | 65 |
| Limestone with silicified layers containing shells—Traversed by subterranean streams | 85 | 150 |
| Blue marl (clay?) | 15 | 165 |
| Shell rock, sand rock, and marl (clay); water rose to within 14 feet of surface | 95 | 260 |
| Sand tinted blue; layer of very fine white sand at 370 feet, below which was some coarse sand with shell fragments and sharks' teeth | 120 | 380 |
| Blue clay and sand rock in alternate layers | 30 | 410 |
| Blue clay with soft sand rock to flowing water | 80 | 490 |
| Sand and clay, forming water-bearing stratum | 40 | 530 |
| Hard rock | 17 | 547 |
My successful boring of this well was quickly followed by the boring of others. The town of Albany and the Central railroad bored two at once, showing that they recognized the fact that it would be of value to them. Soon there were wells in Jacksonville and Sanford, Florida, and Brunswick and Savannah, Georgia. Other places quickly followed, getting their entire water supply by this means.