Mineral Springs from Back to Barry
The year was 1880. The place was Barry County. Missouri, five miles east of Cassville. The town: Mineral Springs. Promoters of the town saw possibilities for a booming tourist trade when they discovered the Spring. Yellow deposits on rocks over which the water flowed prompted an analysis of the water. Professor Charles E. Waite of the School of Mines at Rolla, Missouri tested the water and found an unusually high mineral content. Soon advertisements claimed this Spring water cured everything from rheumatism, dropsy, paralysis, deafness and asthma to torpidity of the liver. Tourists came by the hundreds, arriving by train at the Exeter depot. For 75 cents they rode by stage the 9 mile, 1/2 hour trip to Mineral Springs. Upon arrival they found good streets and parks, boarding houses, a hotel, first class stores, blacksmith and wood shops, drug stores, livery stables, a bathhouse for cold or hot baths, a school, and church facilities. First class hotel accommodations were available from $2.50 to 7.00 per week. When all the rooms were full, tourists pitched tents on any available space.
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Colonel Will Holliday delivered daily mail from Cassville by packhorse. He was very prompt and became upset if he was a few minutes late. Part of the mail contained letters addressed to the proprietors of Mineral Springs. They were written by people who had visited the Spring and claimed to be cured of illnesses. One man claimed 3 weeks use of the mineral water cured fifteen years of dyspepsia and rheumatism and made him "As stout as when a boy." Another man, unable to work for 3 years and confined to bed half the time used the water for 6 weeks. He claimed to be "thoroughly restored," cured from torpidity of the liver and consumption. A carpenter claimed the mineral water reversed his blindness, and he returned to work after 8 months treatment.
From 1888 to 1890 large property owners of Mineral Springs decided that better business opportunities existed in Cassville. Businesses began to close. The "Republican" newspaper, which moved to Mineral Springs from Exeter in 1882, was moved to Cassville. Tourist trade began to dwindle. By 1901 a trickle of tourists visited Mineral Springs but there were still horses for rent and rigs for hire.
From 1951 to 1961 Frank Ryan owned and operated the only store in town. Today, in 1988, the Spring produces as much mineral water as it did in the 1800's. A stone house has been built around the Spring, and it contains a concrete holding tank. A modern pump is submerged in the holding tank and pumps water straight to the faucets in the Frank Ryan home, and other homes in Mineral Springs. The water is clear, odorless and as good as any well water you've ever tasted. You should try it, just for old-timers sake. |
