Plan now to join us:
April 27-29, 2012

Gatsby Days Celebration brings entertainment for all ages! Every year during the last weekend in April, the Excelsior Springs Area Cultural Guild hosts Gatsby Days in honor of Excelsior Springs' Golden Era. The theme is based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic novel "The Great Gatsby," which took place during the 1920s. A variety of events are featured throughout the weekend that explore culture and history in and around the 1920s, through music, art, dance, fashion, theater and educational programs.

Gatsby Days kicks off on Friday with the Vaudeville Review, which offers young people in the area a chance to kick up their heels and strut their stuff. A 1920s-themed parade kicks off the Saturday events and is followed by special events such as an original poetry reading in a coffee house setting and the annual juried Children's Art Show. Artists and musicians will be on hand to delight visitors throughout the day. Finish off the evening at the Speakeasy for dancing, refreshments and a little "gaming" on the sly. Proceeds from Gatsby Days events help provide scholarships for area youth pursuing an education in the arts.

About the Spa In 1880, "Excelsior" spring, the first spring, was discovered in the valley along Fishing River in Clay County, Missouri. Rev. John Van Buren Flack in partnership with the owner of the spring, A.W. Wyman, named the spring "Excelsior" from Longfellow's poem, later changed to Siloam. Together they laid out the town on forty acres, pictured at right. In 1881 the town experienced booming growth with the development of hotels, churches, the first school and the discovery of more mineral water springs.

The visitors to Excelsior Springs out-paced the communities ability to accommodate them. Tent cities littered the banks of Fishing River as health-seekers swarmed to the waters. The rarity of having twenty separate mineral springs bubbling out four distinct varieties of water has given Excelsior Springs the rightful claim of having the world's greatest group of mineral waters. In 1922, Excelsior Springs was the largest town in Clay County. In 1923 the population was 5,000, the area of the city was 907 acres, while the area of parks was 100 acres -- fully one-ninth of the city. What was in the early years known as the "hundred acre park" is today known as Fishing River Linear Park, East Valley Park, Isley Woods and Siloam Mountain Park. In the 1980s, a portion of the park was designated a Missouri Wildlife Area. Many historic buildings still remain including the third Elms Hotel & Spa, opened in 1912 and the Hall of Waters, in which the world's largest water bar opened in 1937. These two buildings are listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places. Listed individually on the Local Historic Register are the newly reopened Oak Hotel, the Louis Curtiss designed Clay County State Bank building which houses the Excelsior Springs Museum and Archives, and the Carnegie Library building. Two areas of the downtown are listed as National Register Historic Districts and in March 2007, the City of Excelsior Springs designated these two districts and additional downtown properties as the Hall of Waters Historic District.

National Register Hall of Waters

National Register Elms Hotel & Spa

Curtiss-designed Museum & Archives