Tonight was our MU Extension Council Annual Meeting and this year they held it in Excelsior Springs! You can imagine how excited I was and they played right into it by asking me to give them a tour of the Hall of Waters beforehand. I was more than happy to and may have gone a little crazy with the pics of the Hall (sorry, not sorry).
After we went over to the lovely Ventana Gourmet Grill where 4-H students gave a demonstration and explanation of the program to the council members. We also met our Clay County Farm Family and Master Gardener of the Year.
Follow along to take a mini tour with me and let me know if your group is need of one, too! I’ve been giving tours of the Hall since I was 8 years old. No joke.
In 1927, the Excelsior Springs City Council prepared a plan for taking over and operating 10 of the springs and wells located in the downtown. This led to the building of the Hall of Waters.
Construction of the Hall of Waters began in 1936 and finished in 1938. The Hall was built as a WPA project, which was for building the Hall, purchase of the mineral water rights, and piping the waters to bottling facilities within.
The interior and exterior decoration incorporates Art Deco and Depression Modern styling with motifs of Mayan Indian tradition relating to water and Water Gods.
The foyer features a mezzanine and skylight with electric lights providing lighting during evening hours.
There are local Kevin Morgan postcards for sale for a dollar each in the Visitor’s Center!
At its height, the Hall of Waters was the most completely outfitted health resort in the state and possible the region. Waters of ten main springs were piped into the longest mineral water bar in the world.
At the height of its popularity, over 10,000 people a day visited the Hall of Waters
Five varieties of mineral water were bottled here and shipped all over the world.
Excelsior Springs Water Development • 1937
The Hall was built as a WPA project, at one million dollars, it was the most ambitious project to have been taken undertaken by the WPA in Missouri.
Siloam Spring was the first of the mineral waters discovered in Excelsior Springs. It is the only natural supply of ferro-manganese water in the United States and one of only five known worldwide.
The original spring upon which the city was founded, Siloam Spring, currently lies under the front steps of the Hall of Waters. There remains today a 12 foot cavern under the lawn shown here with the original spring.
Annie Bensyl gives us an overview of 4-H, while Caden Kutzli demonstrates how to make ninja stars out of post it notes!
If you are interested in joining 4-H with your kiddo, we have an Excelsior Springs Chapter! We meet the second Tuesday at 7pm at the Good Samaritan Center.
For more of my posts on Excelsior Springs, see:
5 Places to Volunteer in Excelsior Springs