Crazy Water Hotel Annex Discovered!

 

Until recently, common knowledge has held that there were three buildings associated with the first Crazy Well Water Hotel property. These buildings were:

• the pavilion built in 1909 
• a single hotel unit built in 1912 and 
• a second hotel unit built in 1914 and attached to the first, sharing lobby between them

This is what has been believed and held to be true for decades. However, there are two corrections that need to be made to this record.

One is the small matter of an incorrect date on the first hotel building.

Both the Portal to Texas History and A F Weaver’s book “Time Was in Mineral Wells” have the construction date for the first hotel unit as 1912, with the second unit being “constructed two years later in 1914 and joined to the first building.”  (The Portal to Texas History likely received their dates from Weaver.)  

In her book, “A History of Mineral Wells, Texas”, however, Winnie Beatrice McAnelly Fiedler declares “In 1915 the Crazy Water Well Company built the first unit of the old Crazy Water Hotel and in 1918 built the second unit or annex.”

These contradictions led me to digging in the newspaper archives once again and carefully studying images of the early hotels.

I discovered that the Crazy Water Hotel was completed and opened in August 1913. The hotel consisted of two co-joined buildings sharing a lobby. You can see the article below.

The second item that needs to be corrected is the number of buildings associated with the Crazy Well Water Hotel properties.   There were not three buildings, but FOUR!  

• the pavilion built in 1909 
• the Crazy Hotel with two co-joined units built in 1913 (not one unit built in 1912 and the other in 1914/1915, but instead, built in the same year) and... 
• an annex built BEHIND the Crazy Hotel in 1918!

I unearthed this stunning discovery on December 5^th of 2021, and in early 2022, confirmed that the two co-joined units were both completed in 1913. The new information was so unexpected that I was completely floored. I thought I must be wrong. Surely if this were true, it would have been mentioned somewhere; The Portal to Texas History, perhaps? Weaver or Fiedler’s books? But no!

I found no information in any of these sources.  However, my search in the newspaper archives and through existing photographs are indisputable.  The evidence is below.

Palo Pinto County Star, 31 August 1917                                             

An article in the National Hotel Reporter (23 May 1918) described the annex as having 52 rooms.  The hotel manager, Mr. W O Brinker's wife planned all of the furnishings.  

The west room of the annex are in French gray and rose; the east rooms in cream color and ivory. The upholstering and draperies are in beautiful cretonnes; the chairs, roomy and comfortable, are of fibre, painted in the color of the room, the remainder of the furniture being in mahogany.

The furniture and hangings were purchased through the Ellison Furniture Company of Ft Worth; the linens from Sanger Bros., of Dallas and Baker Linen Company of New York; mattresses from the Sealy Co.

 

Of course, sadly, the entire block of Crazy Well Water properties burned down in 1925. 

Published 11 Dec 2021 (c) K K R North

Republished with corrections 13 Mar 2022 (c) K K R North 

(corrections in red)

The Palace Saloon - Murder & Suicide

Palace Saloon on North Oak Avenue circa 1907

Ad, Sept 29, 1905

The Palace Saloon was built around September 1905 by T J "Jeff" Pearson.  Although the saloon does not appear on the 1904 Sanborn Insurance map, it does appear on the 1907 Sanborn map.  However, Pearson paid for the first of several large advertisements for the saloon in the Palo Pinto County Star on September 29, 1905.  As it was common to place ads at the time of opening, September 1905 is likely when the Palace Saloon first opened its doors.

Pearson was born in 1859, date and place unknown. He was the son of Wesley Pearson, a farmer & pioneer settler of Bryan, Texas.  Pearson was still living in Bryan, Texas in 1890 when he ran for the office of Constable.   The Bryan newspaper, The Eagle, described him as a "popular and well-known citizen".  One month after making his announcement to run for office, Pearson withdrew from the race "owing to continued ill health of his family".  Ill health may have been the reason he moved to Mineral Wells. For by 1900, he was living in Mineral Wells and had opened a meat market at 105 E Hubbard. His meat market was called The Palace Cold Storage Market.

Pearson's Palace Cold Storage Market on E Hubbard (1907 ad)

Sanborn map, 1900 105 E Hubbard (meat market)

Sanborn map, 1907 Saloon on Oak, Meat Market on E Hubbard

                            

105 E Hubbard today

Palace Saloon on North Oak Ave, 2017

T J Pearson

In Mineral Wells, as in Bryan, Pearson was a well-known and popular citizen.    Newspaper articles show him as a member of the Merchant's Association in 1902 and part of a committee to bring the Chautauqua to Mineral Wells, and in 1907, as a member of the city council (first ward).  They described him as a pioneer of Mineral Wells and a well-to-do man. In addition to the Palace Saloon and the Palace Cold Storage and Market, Pearson also owned the Cattle Exchange Bar (or according to other sources, the "Stock Exchange Saloon"). Judging by outward appearances, Pearson had everything going his way. But whether he was aware of it or not, events were unfolding in 1903 that would lead him into disaster and tragedy.  For in that year of 1903, his wife, Jennie Pearson was meeting with a lawyer regarding a divorce; a separation that would be granted in 1907.  And the same lawyer would conspire with her in 1908 to drive Pearson into bankruptcy.

Palo Pinto County Star, Feb 8, 1907

In 1907, Mr. and Mrs. Pearson separated and divided the property between them. Likely as a result of the divorce, Pearson sold the Palace Saloon in February to Littleton Brewster, another local saloon man. Although some divorces have been amiable, the Pearson divorce was not one of them.  True or not, Mrs. Pearson felt that Pearson had held back a considerable amount of cash from the division of property.  On March 3, 1908 she employed the same lawyer, William Eldridge McConnell of Palo Pinto as her counsel to help her recover what she considered her fair share.  Her daughter, Jessie Marie Pearson, testified in a court of law that Mrs. Pearson's intent was to "throw Pearson into bankruptcy and secure a new division of their property."

Mrs. Pearson's lawyer, W E McConnell

W E McConnell was the son-in-law of Hon. Ham G Taylor of Palo Pinto.  He was also a member of the 30th legislature of Texas, a staunch supporter of Senator Bailey, one of the best-known lawyers in the state and a judge. He had lived in Palo Pinto for 19 years, had a wife, a teenager and three small children. He was certainly well-known and held in high regard by most citizens of Palo Pinto County. He, like Pearson, appeared to have everything going in his favor. Things would soon go very wrong for both. 

On the morning of May 26, 1908, Edgar Holloway was tending bar in Pearson's saloon (i.e. the Cattle Exchange Bar; the Palace Saloon having been sold to Brewster).  W E McConnell came into the bar at 10 o'clock and joined Pearson in an office for a conference.  What was said is unknown, but it's evident that the topic of the conversation was the division of the property.

At 11 o'clock, Pearson's friend C M Harris walked into the bar.  C M Harris had been the City Marshal of Mineral Wells for 16 years and had been named as trustee for the Pearson's property when they had decided to separate. On this morning, Pearson complained to Harris that McConnell was "after him" again. Harris advised Pearson to give up, turn over all of his property to his wife and "leave the country".  Pearson agreed to do this and planned to meet with his wife that afternoon.  

Austin American-Statesman May 27, 1908

Later that day, around 3:00 o'clock, Pearson went to Mrs. Pearson's home at 601 E Throckmorton (now SE First St).  His son Frank Pearson joined him.  The Pearson's daughter, Jessie Pearson was also present.  Mrs. Pearson called McConnell's office and asked that he come to her residence as Pearson and the children were there and she wanted him to draw up some papers in the pending case.  Around 3:30 o'clock, McConnell also arrived and seated himself in the parlor.  The earliest news reports state that when Pearson learned that McConnell was in the other room, he approached McConnell and asked if he had made "certain statements to Mrs. Pearson".  McConnell confirmed that he had.  Pearson then cursed the judge and when McConnell stood up and made a motion towards his hip, Pearson drew a .38 caliber gun and shot McConnell multiple times.  The first shot hit McConnell in the chest.  The Judge threw up his hand at the second shot and received the shot through it.  He then sank back into his chair.  Pearson continued firing, striking McConnell twice more in the chest.  McConnell was dead.

Following the shooting, reports say that Pearson went directly to the police and turned himself in.  However, during Pearson's murder trial, Edgar Holloway testified that Pearson returned to the bar and placed a gun in his desk drawer.  Pearson then told Holloway that he was sorry he had to kill McConnell.  Following that, he proceeded to turn himself in.  Other than to state that he had acted in self-defense, Pearson made no other public statement regarding the shooting. 

At Mrs. Pearson's residence, a crowd had gathered.  Will Wylie, the deputy marshal arrived after being summoned by Jessie Pearson.  He fetched Dr. J H McCracken, who was the first physician on the scene.  McCracken removed the clothing from McConnell in order to examine the wounds.  He later testified that there were six bullet wounds, three of which could have been the fatal shot.  Dr. H P Whatley also arrived to examine the body.  Judge Cook was also there and took a statement from Frank Pearson, who signed it.  Cook also received the reports from McCracken and Whatley.  McConnell's clothing was searched and no weapon was found.  His body was then taken to Beatham's undertaking parlor. 

The story spread and was not limited to Texas newspapers. It made the front page in Vicksburg, MS; Fort Smith, AR; Ardmore, OK; Lancaster, PA and doubtless many others.  The headlines in the intervening days focused on the unrevealed 'statements' McConnell made to Mrs. Pearson.  The headline of the Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, PA) read "Murdered for Insulting Wife".  The Daily Ardmoreite (Ardmore, OK) read "Tragedy at Fort Worth" "Judge McConnell of Palo Pinto Instantly Killed" "Woman Causes Fatal Deed".  The Lampasas Reader (Lampasas, TX) stated that the "cause of the shooting was a disagreement over some statements which had been made by McConnell."

What was said to Mrs. Pearson by McConnell was not revealed until the trial. And it hardly seemed enough to set off the chain of events that it did.

Due to the prominence of McConnell in Palo Pinto County and his political position within the state, the case drew a great deal of attention.  His burial in Palo Pinto brought out "the entire citizenship of Palo Pinto as well as by many from all parts of Palo Pinto County."  There were rumors that Senator Bailey had offered his services to the prosecution.  Hon. R L Allen of Dallas and former Senator D W Odell also offered their time and talent.  In the end, the prosecution team consisted of District Attorney Ben Palmer, Hon. Collin George and F H Chandler, all of Stephenville.

Pearson, fearing for his life in McConnell's home town, was taken from the Palo Pinto County jail to Parker County. His bail was set at $10,000.

Jury selection began in late September.  It proved to be a challenging process.  The first panel of potential jurors included 100 men, out of which only seven men were selected.  An additional 60 men were ordered for a second panel.  By days end, no additional jurors had been selected.  

The trial began October 1.  Pearson's defense team included Stevenson & Brown of Mineral Wells and Hon. W L Crawford of Dallas.  Owing to the absence of Mrs. Pearson, R H Beatham, the undertaker and Charles Harris, the former chief of police, Pearson's team made a motion for a continuance but was over-ruled by Judge W J Oxford.  The absence of Harris would become significant at a later date.

The point of contention in the case centered around whether or not McConnell was seated when Pearson began firing his weapon or if he had been standing and reaching for his hip.  Which action, Pearson said, caused him to believe that McConnell was reaching for a weapon.  The statement which Judge Cook had taken from Frank Pearson at the scene of the crime declared that McConnell had risen from his chair and reached to his right hip with his right hand.  And yet, a sworn statement obtained from Jessie Pearson two days after the shooting, contradicted this. 

Evidence showed that one bullet had gone thru McConnell's body and pierced a window screen.  The prosecution attempted to use this to prove that McConnell was sitting. However, Frank Pearson's statement, obtained by Judge Cook, had noted that after the initial shots, McConnell had sunk back into his chair while Pearson continued to fire his weapon.  This latter, would explain how bullets could have gone thru McConnell and pierced the screen.

Jessie Pearson's sworn statement was more problematic.  She and her mother, Jennie Pearson were staying in the Piedmont Hotel when Ben Palmer, district attorney, Sheriff R A Peak and F H Chandler met with her to obtain her sworn statement, two days after the killing.  In that statement, she said that "her father fired the first shot while McConnell was seated in his chair and before he had opportunity to say a word."  She said that she had gone to the bedroom to tell her father than McConnell was in the parlor waiting.  She had to tell him three times before he responded.  Then, she said, her father "immediately went into the parlor and had only called McConnell's name when he began firing." Her statement further said that McConnell had thrown up his right hand to his left breast and exclaimed, 'My God, Jeff'.

Jessie Pearson's testimony provided details regarding her mother's hopes to bankrupt her father.  She told of her mother's first visit with McConnell back in 1903 for a consultation regarding a divorce and that her mother later employed McConnell again on March 3, 1908 to "throw Pearson into bankruptcy and secure a new division of their property".  Jessie Pearson also testified that she had heard McConnell tell her mother that Pearson had told him that his wife "was so low down that no lawyer in Mineral Wells except him (i.e. McConnell) would represent her".  Mrs. Pearson told her husband this on the afternoon of the killing and he had denied it.  She also said that Pearson had called McConnell that afternoon to deny the allegation but was unable to reach him.

It was apparently this statement regarding his wife being "low down" that Pearson brought up at the scene of the crime.

On Wednesday, Oct 7, the jury filed into the courtroom and read the verdict.  They found Pearson guilty of murder in the first degree.  He was sentenced to 99 years in the penitentiary.  The Stephenville Empire wrote that "the most celebrated case in the history of that county was at an end."

Abilene Semi-Weekly Farm Reporter Oct 7 1908

The case, however, was not at an end. There was more to come.  Much more. It wouldn't be at an end for a good while longer.

Pearson's defense team appealed the case to the Court of Appeals, which reversed it June 23, 1909 on the ground that "improper testimony was given".  A retrial date was set for December 27, 1909.  Pearson's defense team for the retrial once again included Col. W L Crawford of Dallas and Lindsey M Brown and Judge Stevenson of Mineral Wells.  Pearson also retained Judges J T McDaniel and W T Carlton of Stephenville. State's attorneys again included District Attorney Ben Palmer, Hon. Collin George and F H Chandler, all of Stephenville.

The Bryan Daily Eagle June 24, 1909

For the second trial, Judge Oxford changed the venue from Palo Pinto to Stephenville.  The change of venue was the first item hotly debated by the defense team.  It occupied the attention of the court for most of the first day in court. Pearson's team introduced an application to have the venue changed.  They charged that the court had erred in changing the venue to Erath County.  Their arguments were that the venue put Pearson at a disadvantage because of the prevalence of prohibition in Erath County which would prejudice jurors against Pearson, who was a saloon man; all of the prosecution counsel were members of Stephenville; and that McConnell's first marriage was in Erath County, further prejudicing the jury.  Judge Oxford overruled the application and the trial commenced.  
Pearson's defense team made it known that they would make a "wholesale attack on the moral character of McConnell"; that he was in the habit of 'drinking freely" and that he had made improper approaches toward members of Pearson's family and that not only was his killing a "justifiable homicide but an act of self-defense by Pearson".  

Over two hundred witnesses were called; 128 by the state and 90 by the defendant. The defense cross examined the state's witnesses vigorously but were unable to shake their testimony.  Dr J H McCracken and Will Kyle were again called upon to testify.   Ed Blackburn and Dr H P Whatley also testified, as did Wayne Lassiter.  

Mrs. Mary A Birge of Mineral Wells, a neighbor a block from the Pearson's home testified to having heard shots.  And soon afterwards, saw Pearson exit the yard of his house and pass by her house.  She described him as "pale and excited".

Frank Pearson was also called as a witness and repeated his previous testimony, with new details being added to the newspaper reports. He said that after his father arrived at the house, his parents had a heated discussion with both growing quite angry.  And that his mother threw a shovel at his father.  He said he met McConnell at the door when he arrived and escorted him into the parlor where McConnell and he took seats.  A little later, he heard his sister telling his father three times that McConnell had arrived and was waiting in the parlor. He testified that when his father entered the parlor, he walked to the center table and asked McConnell if he had made the remark about Mrs. Pearson's inability to get a lawyer.  And when McConnell replied with an oath that he had, Pearson rejoined fiercely "Any man who will tell another man's wife that for the sake of a fee is a damned rascal".  McConnell then exclaimed with another oath that he would not take that and rose from his chair.  Frank said that when rising, McConnell extended his left hand toward Pearson and with his right hand, reached toward his hip.  That is when Pearson began firing his gun.

Jessie Pearson gave testimony that threw shades of doubt on her sworn statement obtained by Peak, Palmer and Chandler in the Piedmont Hotel two days after the crime.  She identified her signature on the statement and confirmed that she remembered the occasion of the lawyers talking to her in the Piedmont but she could now neither "positively confirm or deny the statements accredited to her there".  She now claimed that "her answer to questions about all of these today being that she could not remember."  She now testified that both her father and McConnell "were angry and passed hot words before the shooting".  And that she was behind her father and saw McConnell rise up; that she could see him over her father's shoulder before her father began shooting.  This testimony now seemed to confirm Frank's recounting of the scene.

As to the forewarned attack on McConnell's character, a number of character witnesses were called to give testimony to show that McConnell had an ugly reputation of being "quarralsome, overbearing and lewd" when under the influence of alcohol and that he drank freely.  Among the character witnesses were Dick Cook, C B Raines, William Waine and J H Moxey of Mineral Wells and C H Bowen of Fort Worth.

An additional character witness was Pearson's nephew Mitchell.  He testified that he had overheard a conversation in which Pearson had warned McConnell to do his consultation with Mrs. Pearson in McConnell's office instead of meeting her in the Pearson's home.  McConnell, Mitchell said, retorted that if Pearson interfered with his business, he would "beat his head into a pulp".

But it was the star witness for the defense that delivered all that Pearson's team had promised; proof of McConnell's immorality; that he drank too much; had made improper approaches to Pearson's wife and daughter; and also provided their reason for claiming "justifiable homicide".

Their star witness was C M Harris, the former City Marshal of Mineral Wells who had been absent from the first trial due to illness.  His testimony on the stand took the state's attorneys off guard as it was fresh information not heard until that moment.  Harris testified that on the morning of the killing, when he had visited Pearson at the saloon, that he had told Pearson something shocking that he was afraid may have spurred Pearson to do what he had done.  It was information that he had known for several months but had not shared with Pearson until that fateful morning.  The only reason he had shared it at that time is that McConnell was drunk that morning and was talking "too freely" and had told at least one other man that he had "intimate relations with one member of Pearson's family and [had] intentions to establish such relations with another member of that family."  Harris also revealed that McConnell's intimacy with Pearson's family had existed since 1903, when Mrs. Pearson had first approached McConnell for assistance in her divorce case.  He was concerned, because of McConnell's bragging, that Pearson was sure to hear of it.  He said that he had pled with Pearson not to take any rash action because of the information.

The next morning, the headlines in the Fort Worth Record and Register read: "Pearson Trial Becomes Racy" "Defense Springs Sensational Attack on McConnell's Moral Character" "Talked to Freely" "Said to Have Boasted of Invading Pearson's Home". 

Pearson's team's strategy worked.  On January 2, 1910 at 9:20 o'clock, T J Pearson was acquitted.  The jury had debated the matter from 6 o'clock the previous evening.  When the verdict was read, the crowd of twenty-five in the court room broke into applause.  Judge W J Oxford fined them each $25.  The Fort Worth Record & Register (January 3, 1910) reported that "Mr. Pearson, showing a depth of feeling but very little outward emotion thanked each member of the jury for the decision in his favor" and declared Pearson a free man.

But like the Stephenville Empire's proclamation that the case was at an end at the conclusion of the first trial, the Fort Worth Record & Register was also wrong that Pearson was a "free man".  In the two trials, he was forced to sell what was left of his properties.  His meat market ended up in the hands of T J Green and F J Macatee.  He was never successful in business again.  His friends said that he was "never the same man after he killed McConnell" and "was absolutely without spirit thereafter".  In 1912, he moved to Fort Worth.

On the afternoon of Saturday, May 16, 1914, Pearson was at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Claude Fox (Jessie) at 902 Macon Avenue in Fort Worth.  Alone in a room at 1 o'clock, Pearson drank two bottles of carbolic acid.  Alerted by his groaning, Jessie rushed into the room. She called for a doctor immediately, but Pearson died thirty minutes later.

Fort Worth Star Telegram May 16, 1914

T J Pearson is buried in an unmarked grave at Greenwood Memorial Park & Mausoleum in Fort Worth.

And there... is where the "most celebrated case in the history of that county" ends...and Pearson becomes a "free man" at last.

This story doesn't end with his death, however.  His daughter Jessie, who married Claude Fox, had two daughters: Valerie Fox, born in 1911 and Sarah Jeanette Fox, born in 1915.  Valerie Fox married golf champion Ben Hogan in April 1935.  

Pearson's wife, Mrs. Jennie Pearson died November 24, 1937 at age 72 in Mineral Wells. Her burial place is unknown but can likely be found at Woodland Park Cemetery where her son Walter C Pearson is buried.

Published 26 Nov 2021 (c) K K R North

Crazy Hotel - A F Weaver

27 July 1975, Fort Worth Star Telegram

A F Weaver, author of the book “Time Was in Mineral Wells” and champion of the preservation of Mineral Wells’ history, standing in the Crazy Hotel Water Pavilion in 1975.

 

Baker Hotel - Highway 180 Looking East (1940s)

Color slide - Baker Hotel from Hwy 180 looking east (1940s)

 

Baker Hotel Postcard

 Beautiful old postcard of the Baker Hotel. The smaller building to the right is the old Methodist Church.

Mineral Wells - A Short History

The usual boomtown story goes something like this: gold or some other precious metal is discovered and prospectors pitch tents in a cluster along a river.  At first, a crude frame building is erected as a general store for the prospectors to buy supplies.  Soon a tent is pitched to house a saloon, and if it does well, more saloons are created.  As the area becomes crowded with more prospectors, the general store is joined by a tonsorial parlor and a hotel. Shortly thereafter, the tents are replaced by simple frame buildings, some with false fronts. And there you have the main street of a fledgling town; sprung up seemingly overnight. The crowds swell, streets become lined with saloons, parlor houses, dry goods stores, a bank, jail, post office, feed store and perhaps a land or assayers office. Fortunes are made and lost and eventually the gold plays out.  The town's population dwindles and is perhaps abandoned.  Sometimes boom towns find other means to maintain and regrow the population, but like as not, they fade away into ghost towns.

Such is the life of the typical boom town. Of course, not all boom towns begin with a gold strike.  In the state of Texas, one associates booms to an oil strike or a place along a cattle trail.  Oil and cattle; that's certainly what one thinks of when ruminating on Texas.  But the town of Mineral Wells, 51 miles west of the cattle town of Fort Worth, did things differently.  It's boom began with the discovery of mineral water.  Rich in calcium, magnesium, lithium and other minerals, the water of Mineral Wells was believed to have medicinal qualities.  Water that you could take to the bank in the late 19th and early 20th century.  

Settlement in the area began in the 1870s but the story of Mineral Wells began in 1877 with the arrival of James Lynch and his family.  It was he and his family who not only discovered the water, but also discovered its health giving attributes.  

He and his family were living in Denison and because a number of family members were suffering from various ailments associated with malaria, Lynch decided to re-locate his family.  According to Cutter’s 1893 Guide to Mineral Wells,

“Mr. Lynch and his wife had both been suffering with malarial rheumatism for some years, and he had been unable to do any hard work for a long time; Mrs. Lynch could not raise her hands to her head, and others were obliged to arrange her hair; her hands were also drawn out of shape and the joints very much enlarged. Nearly every one of the family had chills and fever, and some of them had been prostrated with malarial fever.” In those days, there were no pharmaceutical companies nor the drugs we have available to us now.  Folks often used home remedies or questionable cure-all elixirs.  Or...they moved to different climates.

Lynch and his wife Armanda
(courtesy of Boyce Ditto Public Library)

In 1877, hoping it would provide relief from the malarial symptoms, the Lynches decided to leave the more humid climate of Denison and head west for a drier climate.   “Judge” Lynch (as he was later called) and his wife and children left Denison with 50 head of livestock, including a number of oxen.  When they reached Millsap Valley, they heard news of Comanche attacks further west and so “they decided to settle down where they were, in a valley tucked among the hills of Palo Pinto County”.  The spot they chose to build their two cabins is where Mineral Wells' Lynch Square is located today.

The Well That Started It All

The Lynch Well (Courtesy of Boyce Ditto Public Library)

Although the valley was beautiful and suited their needs, the Lynches were four miles from the only water source, the Brazos River. They hauled their water from the river in barrels on wagons drawn by oxen.  In February of 1878, Lynch purchased eighty acres of land from the Franco-Texas Land Company.  In the Spring, Lynch attempted to dig a well using only picks and shovels.  Although he and his sons dug down 41 feet, they didn’t find water. So they continued hauling water from the Brazos for another two years. 

In the summer of 1880, a well-digger named Johnny Adams came through the valley. Adams agreed to finish digging the Lynch’s well in exchange for a yoke of oxen. He struck water at 110 feet.  “All the members of the family and a few neighbors gathered about to sample or take a good drink of the clear, sparkling nectar which was drawn up from the depths of mother earth in the long, galvanized-iron bucket.  All drank or tasted of the water and each face expressed a dislike or disgust at the smell, taste or quality of the water.  “I’d rather haul water from the Brazos than to drink that nasty stuff,” said one of the boys. They all agreed that it was not pleasant to the taste.  Several of the older members of the family also feared that the water might be poisonous or at the very least unhealthy to drink.  It was said that its mineral content was so high, it was even of no use in washing or cooking.  They continued to haul water in barrels from the Brazos River. 

The Lynches watered their livestock with the water from the well to test its safety and so, despite the funny taste, they would at times “use the water from the well only at intervals when the river water supply was exhausted” and “after using it continuously for a few months the health of the family was very much improved…”  Lynch found himself cured of his rheumatic trouble, while his wife was again able to raise her hands to her head and to begin performing the household duties she had once had to abandon.  The family found they were all feeling better and Lynch credited the water for their improved health.

Two men working for Mr. Lynch both had conjunctivitis which cleared up after drinking the water and bathing their eyes with it for a number of days. There is also a story of a cowboy who had a summer fever and was unable to work.  After drinking the water for a few days, “Richard was himself again” and hereafter he began to tell folks “The bitter water in Judge Lynch’s well would cure anything in the world, by Gosh!”

The Lynches and their neighbors began drinking from the well regularly and the curative powers of the water had become evident to everyone by that summer of 1880.  When news of the healing powers of this mineral-rich water spread, hundreds of strangers and then thousands were showing up on the Lynch property asking for the water. An eyewitness account by J H Baker, a Palo Pinto resident writing in his diary in late July, says that there is “considerable excitement in the county below the mountains beyond the river concerning a well that has been dug, the waters of which seem to be benefiting those who drink it.”  He refers to it as “the medical well”.  On July 21, Baker sent his wife and children to the well for her health. On August 16, he visited “the medical well” himself and reported that already “several hundred people [were] there for the benefit of their health.”  And there being only the one well, that there was not enough water.  Thus, two additional wells were being drilled; these wells were the J D Smyth well and another, unnamed well, in the middle of Mesquite Street (First Ave) which was filled in and abandoned in1882. Lynch’s well could only produce 100 gallons a day, so he began having folks sign a statement “affirming that they were sick and in need of the water.”

1881 - The Boom Begins

As word spread about the curative powers of the water in The Mineral Wells, the number of arrivals increased daily. There was no housing or hotels. It was reported that by 1881, Mineral Wells had a population of 1,500-2,000 people “most of them living in makeshift houses, huts, tents and one or two log cabins”.  Upwards of 3,000 people were said to have been camping on Lynch’s property at one point. 

Mineral Wells, 1881 Objects in background are tents of health-seekers. (Courtesy Boyce Ditto Public Library - A F Weaver Collection)

The mineral water remained the focus and it was brought up from the three wells and carried in buckets, cans, bottles and other containers, “anything that could be found adequate”.  Judge Lynch built a “brush arbor” around his well and started selling the water by the Pint Tin Cup Full for ten cents.  A brush arbor is a rough, open-sided shelter with vertical poles holding up a roof of long poles laid across the top.  This, then, could be considered, by some, the first water pavilion in Mineral Wells. 

A fourth well was dug in July of 1881 by W H “Uncle Billy” Wiggins who bought some land from Judge Lynch in the northwest corner of NE 4th St and NW 1st Ave. This well would become the most famous of them all, earning the moniker ‘Crazy Well’. 

H M Berry, an early resident and historian, wrote in 1921, that when he arrived on September 18, 1881, there were only three families and a bachelor living in Mineral Wells permanently. 

It was in August, just a month before Berry arrived, when Judge Lynch hired surveyors to lay out the town and started selling lots.  He reserved the location of his cabins as the town square.  As Berry reported it, by the first of October, it looked like a small army was camped [there], tents were everywhere.”  And just a month later, “the sound of the hammer was heard in all directions; carpenters had come by the dozens; the road was lined with wagons hauling lumber from Weatherford and Millsap.  Houses were being built in all parts of the town.”   The Paradise Messenger reported that “ten thousand feet of lumber” was arriving daily with “three car loads at Millsap Station waiting for wagons to freight it up to the wells.”  One of the contractors told Berry that he had 22 houses under construction. Before the year was out, three additions were begun: the Wiggins, Slaughter & Barber and French Additions.  The French Addition “sold like hotcakes, people seemed to be coming from everywhere.”  This, the first year of building, and Berry noted that the “price of town lots were soaring high”.  Mineral Wells was booming!

The Pritchett Hotel - it was later renamed the Richards Hotel.
(Courtesy Boyce Ditto Public Library). 

With the masses arriving so rapidly, there was an urgent need for hotels; a need that grew  daily. The first arrival to address this need was Mr. Pritchett who arrived on October 1.  Pritchett opened this first hotel in a large tent “made of canvas or heavy sheeting, stretched on posts and poles”.  Bunks were placed inside on each side with an aisle “just wide enough to allow a person to pass between the beds.”  He then set about building a two story box house 25 x 100 feet.  He moved his hotel into this box house and named it The Pritchett Hotel.  It was located on the corner of East Hubbard and NE 2nd Ave in one of the blocks upon which the Baker Hotel now stands. 

The second hotel was built by Col R W Duke. He bought a block of land bounded by E Hubbard, SE 3rd Ave, SE 1st St and SE 2nd St and erected a two story L-shaped frame structure in the southwest corner of the block. 

He named his hotel The Piedmont Hotel.  He dug a well on the premises and named it The Bitter Well. The Central Hotel, built by S W Woods, was the third hotel constructed. The fourth hotel was The Wiggins, built by W H “Uncle Billy” Wiggins. Photos exist of all but the Central Hotel. Other early hotels include the Early-Southern Hotel and the Commercial Hotel.

Commercial Hotel (from Cutter's 1893 Guide)

Additional wells were also in demand and several more were dug during this time.  Things progressed so rapidly and wells were dug so close together in time, that Berry proclaimed “it was hard to know which were dug first.” The wells he mentioned include the Star Well, which was dug by B T Hudman.  Another was the White Sulphur Well which was dug by D B Lignon.  The remaining wells he mentioned included the Central Well, in association with the Central Hotel and the Du Bellet Well. 

Early-Southern Hotel

This last well was dug by Henri du Bellet, acting agent of the Texas-Franco Land Company and the man associated with the French Addition.  Du Bellet drilled his well and built an office on the point of the East mountain, directly north and behind the present day First United Methodist Church.  It was first known as the Du Bellet Well, then later called the French Well.  Du Bellet also added a bath house to the French Well and it was operated for a time by a Dr. Findlay.

Another early settler in the area, Colonel W R Austin moved from Kentucky to Palo Pinto County in 1880, first settling in nearby Staggs Prairie with his wife to farm and ranch.  He made frequent trips to the wells to treat a severe eye infection. After his eyes were healed, he was a converted believer.   Having been convinced of the water’s healing powers, he moved into Mineral Wells in November and had a well drilled, naming it the Austin Well.  In connection with this well, he opened a bath house in partnership with Dr Rogers, another early settler.  H M Berry wrote that although J D Smyth had opened a bath house first, he closed it in the spring of 1882, so he called the Austin Well Bath House “the first bath house of any note in Mineral Wells.”  Austin would go on to become a prominent Mineral Wells citizen and later open the Mineral Medicine Manufactory with his son-in-law, a noted lawman named Rufus Highnote.  

By November of 1881, a mere three months since the town had been laid out, news reports about the fast-growing town had begun to appear in newspapers far and wide.  The reports told the story of the Lynch family and their discovery of a "new and remarkable mineral water, the discovery of which has caused great excitement in this region of the world, and we know of no place which so strikingly exemplifies the rapidity of growth of an American town as this one known as the ‘Mineral Wells’.” 

The Dallas Daily Herald told its readers of “reports of an Aladdin-like growth” in “Mineral Wells City”, writing that “since the 24th of September...from one solitary house to now, nearly two hundred buildings” had sprung up and the population had ballooned from 10 persons to 1,700 with lots going from $10 to $100-$200 in cost."

In one six week period 200 houses were erected.  The Dallas Daily Herald reported that the area had gone from one habitation (three months ago) to over 400.  The population from 10 to 12 persons to now over 1,000 and “daily on the increase.”  At the end of December, it had “three hotels, two dry goods stores and five family groceries, three beef markets and a saloon” and a Dallas woman had under contract a large hotel to be built in February.  

The number of wells reported at the end of the year were first five, then eight, then twenty.  They were being dug almost as fast as the buildings were going up.  One paper, amusingly observed “wells are becoming ‘as thick as blackberries’.”  

Crazy Well Pavilion 1885

The water was said to cure “various diseases, skin, lung, kidney, sore-eyes, dispepsia, rheumatic, liver”.  The Paradise Messenger wrote that invalids of all kinds were “seeking the panacea of the wells.” Another source reported that in one short year thousands had sought and gained relief from various afflictions.  It’s no wonder the Opelika Times was already referring to it as a health resort.  Just a little over a year since the Lynch well had been dug!

Yes, the boom was on!

In 1885, a small pavilion was built around the Wiggins Well and it had acquired the name of the "Crazy Well".  Stories of a "crazy woman" having been cured by the water from this well got around and drew even more crowds.  The well was first referred to as 'the crazy woman well" and eventually shortened to "Crazy Well". 

The wells first began without pavilions.  They graduated from wells, to wells with a counter for the serving of the water, to small pavilions and then ever larger pavilions until the largest of them were made of stone or brick. As they developed into these larger pavilions, the wells began to sponsor events, provide offices for businesses, offer bath houses and masseurs.  As competition grew between the various wells, the pavilions began to house skating rinks, dance floors, swimming pools, bowling alleys, vaudeville acts and offer movies.

By 1902 all of the best known water pavilions were built and competing against one another with these entertainments.  The pavilions included the Lamar Pavilion and Bath House, Star Well, Gibson Well, Crazy Well, Austin Well, White Sulphur Well, Texas Carlsbad Well, Lithia Pavilion, Vichy Well & Natatorium , Sangcura Sprudel, Hawthorn Well and the Famous Water Well Co.

First Gibson Well Pavilion

A larger Gibson Pavilion with Bottling Plant (on left)
 and Sangcura Sprudel behind it.

Sangcura Sprudel Well with bottling plant

Palo Pinto Bath House 

Hawthorn Pavilion

Vichy Natatorium

Texas Carlsbad Pavilion

First Lamar Bath House building

Lamar Bath House

The mineral waters from all of the wells were bottled and and the larger ones shipped their water all over the country.  People came to Mineral Wells to drink and bathe in the mineral waters in hopes of being cured from any number of ailments. 

The healing properties of the waters also brought a number of doctors to Mineral Wells, some of whom opened health sanitariums. Some of the sanitariums included the Mineral Wells Sanitarium, the Rountree Sanitarium, O'Neal Sanitarium and the Milling Sanitarium. The doctors in these sanitariums combined water baths, massages and other treatments. Others, like Dr. Hubbard operated out of bath houses.

(Courtesy Boyce Ditto Public Library)

O'Neal Sanitarium (Courtesy Boyce Ditto Public Libary)

Bethesda Bathhouse

Donkey Party overlooking Mineral Wells

In addition to the activities at the pavilions, the town offered fantastic performances from traveling showmen.  Mollie Bailey and her tent-show was a common visitor to Mineral Wells.  As was the famous aeronaut Prof Eckhart and country artists The King K Medicine Co. There were also numerous scenic sites in the area and a popular donkey ride on East Mountain.

According to the University of Texas Bulletin No 3435, published in 1935, "many of the most beautiful spots are readily accessible in a few minutes drive or walk from the resort hotels. Others more remote...A thrill awaits the enterprising traveler who searches out and discovers some of the many unexplored canyons, grottos and emerald green pools of water for himself." The scenic spots included the popular and often-photographed Inspiration Point, eight miles south of Mineral Wells; East Mountain; West Mountain; Lake Pinto; Lake Mineral Wells, four miles east of Mineral Wells; Barber Mountain, six miles east of Palo Pinto; Kyle Mountains, four miles north of Palo Pinto and many others.  There was also Lover's Retreat, outside of Palo Pinto, which was often used as a meeting or picnic spot.  There was a 1000 step stair that ascended East Mountain, often referred to as the Fat Man's Reducer, and a cabin along the donkey trail for photo opportunities.

Lover's Retreat

Cabin and Donkey Party 

Inspiration Point

A trolley, operating on an overhead electric line, transported visitors southwest of the town to Elmhurst Park where there were other entertainments including a casino, horse racing and a dance pavilion.

A Chautauqua was built in 1904, but had a difficult time competing with the myriad of entertainments Mineral Wells had to offer.  It did not last long and was torn down around 1912.

By the early part of the twentieth century, Mineral Wells was in full swing as a health resort and vacation destination, with people coming to "take the waters"; drinking it for their health, bathing in it and visiting the bath houses for vapor rubs.  In 1904, the town recorded 85,000 visitors. It was crowded with pavilions, bath houses, hotels and boarding houses. In 1909, it had 46 hotels and boarding houses to accommodate the seasonal influx of visitors.

The face of Mineral Wells, however, began to change in 1907. A horrific fire that year gutted a popular block in the heart of the city; it consumed the Hawthorn Pavilion; a newly built skating rink; the Lithia Pavilion; the Mineral Wells Bath House; the Mineral Wells Sanitarium and a portion of the Wann Hotel.  Only the Mineral Wells Sanitarium was rebuilt.  The other spaces remained empty for many years. 

Although there were numerous boarding houses and hotels, none of these had sufficient capacity for large numbers of guests.  And convention organizers had a difficult time housing all of their attendees or providing adequate meeting space. A larger hotel was needed.  It wasn't until the Crazy Well Water Co built the first of two hotel buildings in 1912 that the town had a hotel of any size. 

Two years after that, the streets were paved and the Crazy Well Water Co added a second building to The Crazy Hotel; both buildings shared a lobby.  Further changes came when Mr. Bert Gibson sold the Gibson Well to the Crazy Well Water Co. The Gibson Well properties were turned into a park. The Sangcura Sprudel Well was also a part of that sale. 

 In July of that year, another horrific fire destroyed six frame hotels: The Tourist; Harrel House; Lake Charles Louisiana; Carlisle; Burke and the New Hazel.  The Norman boarding house burned too as well as the McCutcheon, Hyde and Forline Cottages and seven small homes. 

The fire stopped at the Wayside Inn, which caught fire but was saved.  (The Wayside Inn, though severely deteriorated, still stands today, next to the old Norwood Hospital.)

Unfortunately, yet another tragic conflagration struck the town in 1925. The Crazy Water Hotel, it's adjoining pavilion and all other buildings, in what was referred to as the 'Crazy block', burned to the ground during the night, sending guests into the streets in their night clothes.  A new, 'fire-proof' 7 story, 200 room hotel was built in 1927 to replace it.  The new hotel included a large lobby and water pavilion on the ground floor, a ballroom, meeting rooms, business suites and a rooftop patio. That building stands today and after having served as a retirement home for many years and then standing vacant for a long time, the Crazy Hotel has now been renovated and will open later this year of 2021. It will be a mixed-use property with efficiency suites, apartments and businesses off the ground lobby and a ballroom for events.

The Baker Hotel

Shortly after the Crazy Hotel was rebuilt, a 14 story hotel was built on the block that had once been the home of the Lamar Well properties.  The new hotel was named the Baker Hotel. It contained 454 guest rooms, a suite for Mr. Baker, a barbershop and beauty parlor, coffee shop, laundry, dress shop, drugstore, bowling alley, bus terminal, stock broker, rooftop ballroom swimming pool, gymnasium golf and tennis.  Also, a drinking pavilion, mineral baths and a medical floor with three physicians as well as a dentist and an optometrist. The Baker Hotel closed in 1972 and despite many attempts to renovate and repurpose it, the 'grand old lady' as she has been called, was largely left to decay with shattered windows leaving much of the building open to the elements. Fortunately, like the Crazy Hotel, investors stepped forward in 2019 and contractors have been steadily making progress on renovations. The hotel is scheduled to re-open in 2024.

The town remained a top spa destination during the 1930s but the depression and pressure from the FDA to cease the health claims made by the mineral water companies had a dampening affect on Mineral Wells' prosperity and popularity.  

By the 1940s most of the water companies closed and much of the town's economy and activity revolved around an army base that was established at Camp Wolters east of town.  Camp Wolters had begun in 1925 as a summer training ground for the National Guard. The army took it over in 1940 and began training infantry replacements there.  At the end of World War II, the base was closed and so did the fortunes of Mineral Wells. Although Camp Wolters was used as a base for training helicopter pilots in the 1950s. It was eventually closed as well and the area now serves as an industrial park.

The Famous Mineral Water Co still stands today.

One thing that has remained consistent is the mineral water. In 1958, Ed Dismuke's widow, owner of the Famous Mineral Water Co sold the company to J C Causey.  The company went through a number of owners after Causey, but the water remained local and unbottled.  But fortune would smile on Mineral Wells once again in 1999.  In that year, the stars aligned when Carol and Scott Elder, the new owners of the Famous Mineral Water Co, also purchased the Crazy Well rights and began to once again, bottle Crazy Water. 

They have worked tireless to expand the Crazy Well market well beyond a small number of local outlets to several hundred outlets in a numerous neighboring  states.  I pick up my weekly supply at the local Brookshire's grocery.  You can find it and other Crazy products for sale at drinkcrazywater.  The Elders have taken the opportunity to promote the town of Mineral Wells with every bottle of Crazy Water sold. Each bottle contains a brief history of the mineral water. They have helped keep the memory of one of the most popular and famous health resorts alive for three decades, while the Baker and Crazy Hotel have been in silence and main street has declined.

A number of other passionate Mineral Wells citizens have also done their part to revitalize downtown by striving to bring the public back to main street with businesses and events. The afore-mentioned owners of Crazy Water spearhead the annual Crazy Festival, while Jacy Roach is the brainchild behind the annual downtown Christmas parade (Merry Wells) and a haunted house which takes place in the abandoned Nazareth Hospital (Spooky Wells).  Businesses include The Kraze Boutique, Brazos Market & Bistro, Merrimac & North, Fresh & Fruity Bouquets and Bakery & Delicatessen, 940 Vapes, You Maka Me HOT Coffee Roasting and All-Star Athletics Clothing Store. The Brazos Market & Bistro also hosts events outside in their Hole in the Wall Bier Garten. These folks have been vital to helping Mineral Wells' downtown from becoming a ghost town. 

In recent years, local developers Randy & Misty Nix of NSC Properties have helped Mineral Wells make a huge leap toward revitalization.  They have purchased a number of local abandoned buildings and spent a great deal of time and money renovating them and encouraging local entrepreneurs to fill the spaces.  One of the earliest projects was the purchase and renovation of the old H E Waldron Grocery.  The Nixes renovated it and opened the Market at 76067, providing retail space for local products. Judging by the products in this store alone, one would think every one in Mineral Wells is a talented artist. They also purchased a building next door and replaced it with the newly built Coffee & Cocktails at 76067. Now also a hotspot of entertainment activity.  One of their most stunning renovations (because of damage done by an infestation of bats) is All Terrain Fitness. The Lofts & Hospitality is a great place for overnight stays and staging family & friend get togethers.  Other new businesses include Pastafina Mineral Wells, Happy Days Diner and The Hatchet House (another event venue.)

Crazy Sign

Also in recent years, the Mineral Wells Leadership Classes have brought back two iconic signs to the town's skyscape.  One is the Welcome sign up on one of the mountains.  It greets visitors arriving on Hwy 180 from the east.  The old sign was revitalized and new lights were installed so that the sign can now be lit up by computer and in various colors.  The beautiful green, white and red Welcome to Mineral Wells Sign - Home of Crazy which was removed decades ago has now also been replaced.  It once again stretches magnificently across the highway just one block from its original position.

In addition, you will find over 20 painted murals scattered throughout downtown, over 15 of them newly created.

Tygrett Hotel

Not downtown, but within walking distance, is the one remaining boarding house in Mineral Wells.  It began as the Tygrett Hotel in the early 1900s and is well over 100 years old. It operated for a number of years under the name of Silk Stocking Row but has recently changed ownership. The new owners, Jeremy and Magen Desnoyers have made over the Tygrett and now operate it under the name The Magpie Inn.

With all of this activity and renewed excitement, the town is on the cusp of another boom. Already busloads of tourists are once more arriving for a day in Mineral Wells. It is becoming a tourist destination again. It is an exciting time for this town.

This blog is devoted to not only the history of Mineral Wells, but to its current events, which will be tomorrow's history.  You can keep up with current events via the Facebook page and/or the Twitter account. 

Lamar Mineral Water
 (courtesy Boyce Ditto Public Library)

The first Crazy Hotel which burned in 1925

Sangcura Sprudel bottled water and products
from the Sangcura Sprudel Well

 (courtesy of the Boyce Ditto Public Library)

Promotional pamphlet (courtesy Boyce Ditto Public Library)

Originally posted by K K R North on 13 June 2021