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Gatsby Days bring week of fun
Official dates of the 2010 Gatsby Days in Excelsior Springs are April 23 through April 25, however, a kickoff for the celebration begins with and Old Tyme Carnival, starting the weekend prior and running throughout Gatsby Days.
Celebration events will include a Roarin' Twenties Black Bottom Dance on April 23 at the historic Elms Resort Hotel featuring The Bram Wijnands' Swingtet, the River Arts Show & Sale beginning April 23 at the Hall of Waters, and side door admitttance to a "Big Jim's" Speakeasy from 6 to 10 p.m at the Atlas Saloon on Broadway on April 24. (No legal gambling ... joint may be raided.)
The ever popular Hickory Stick Golf Tournament will be held at the historic Excelsior Springs Golf Course on April 24. A special dinner for the first 25 sign-ups for the Golf Tournament and/or Day Tour will be provided by the Mayor of Excelsior Springs at a historic Tudor mansion.
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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.
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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. |
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National Register Hall of Waters
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National Register Elms Hotel & Spa
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Curtiss-designed Museum & Archives
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