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Gatsby Days bring week of fun
Official dates of the 2008 Gatsby Days in Excelsior Springs are April 20 through April 27, however, a kickoff for the celebration this year will begin with and Old Tyme Carnival, starting April 17 and running throughout Gatsby Days.
Celebration events will include a Gatsby Style Show on April 20, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Hall of Waters, the "Broadway to Hollywood" production and dinner on April 23 at Ventana Grille, the Fine Arts River Festival Art Show beginning April 25 at the Hall of Waters, and the Hickory Stick Golf Tournament at the historic Excelsior Springs Golf Course on April 26.
New this year will be a Vaudeville Show under the direction of the Excelsior Springs Community Theatre, April 26 in the Grand Ballroom of the Elms Hotel.
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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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