In the 1850s, the U.S. government announced that the NorthShore was the second healthiest place in the country, because of so few deaths from diseases such as yellow fever and malaria. That, coupled with the discovery of minerals in the many springs, brought a flood of people seeking healing, rest and recuperation in the pine-scented air of Covington and its environs. Physicians thought the ozone air had favorable effects on diseases of the lungs and throat.