1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Plombières

PLOMBIÈRES, a town of eastern France, in the department of Vosges, on a branch line of the Eastern railway, 17 m. S. of Epinal by road. Pop. (1906), 1882. The town is situated at a height of 1410 ft. in a picturesque valley watered by the Augronne. It is well known for its mineral springs, containing sodium sulphate and silicic acid, varying from 66° to 166° F. Plombières has a handsome modern church and a statue of the painter Louis Français, born in the town in 1814. The waters were utilized by the Romans and during the middle ages. In later times Montaigne, Richelieu, Stanislas, duke of Lorraine and Voltaire were among the distinguished people who visited the place. Napoleon III. built the most important of the bathing establishments and made other improvements.