Originally platted on September 1, 1880, by T.B. Rogers, county surveyor, Excelsior Springs became a village on February 7, 1881. The name Excelsior was originally chosen for the town, but when application was made for a post office, it was found that another Excelsior, Missouri already existed. The name Viginti was used by the post office for two years, but the people would not have it and eventually the name Excelsior Springs was decided upon. Five months later on July 12, 1881, Excelsior Springs acquired the designation of a city of the fourth class with E. Smith as mayor. Many years later in 1926, Excelsior Springs has the distinction as the first Missouri city to hire a professional city manager and adopt the city manager form of government. Kansas City followed suite shortly thereafter. Visitors were soon attracted from the larger towns and cities. Stage lines were pressed into operation from the nearest railroad points. In an incredibly short time, small boarding and rooming houses sprang into being. The first hotel, called the Excelsior Hotel, had a foundation of 30'x70' and excited natives doubted whether so large a building could be filled with visitors. It opened for business on Thursday, March 1, 1881. Contrary to skepticism, people packed the hotel, many from as far as Kansas City, St. Louis, St. Joseph, and Leavenworth. Until 1888, when the first Elms was built, the Excelsior Hotel remained the leading hostelry in the fast growing city. Not until 1887, when the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad opened up its line between Chicago and Kansas City, via Excelsior Springs, did the resort city receive its first impulse that awakened hope for wider recognition. In the meantime, the Relief Springs and Land Company had been organized by H.C. Fish to interest outside capital in Excelsior Springs. The company acquired nearly 1,000 acres of land, including Siloam, Regent and Relief springs and all territory within a radius of one mile west and south of Fishing River. The foundation for the first Elms hotel began. Central Park, Forest Park, and Beacon Hill additions were platted. A perfectly equipped theater, called the Music Hall, was erected with a charted seating capacity of 1,320 persons. An amusement pavilion was built that was later converted into a bottling works; and the Elms Annex, Regent spring pavilion, bowling alley and swimming pool were added. In cooperation with the Milwaukee Railroad, the company instituted a nation-wide campaign of advertising for the City of Excelsior Springs. In 1897, the first telephone exchanges were started in Excelsior Springs. Discovery continued on the types of waters that Excelsior Springs offered. The internationally known Dr. W.P. Mason, professor of analytical chemistry at Rennselaer Institute, Troy, New York, was retained to analyze the waters. His report revealed in the Siloam and Regent waters the association of bicarbonates of iron and manganese -- a combination so rare that it is only found in four springs in all Europe and Excelsior Springs possessed the only two commercially known in the United States. The rarity of having 20 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. The particularly unusual feature of the distinguished group lies in the fact that it includes two of the six world's known iron-manganese springs. Other types are classified as Saline-Sulpher, Soda-Bicarbonate and Calcic-Bicarbonate, the latter being generally known as Lithia. Watering place resorts rarely possess more than one type of water treatment -- mineral water baths. In Excelsior Springs there were four types of treatment with water of tonic, alterative and eliminative value and the mineral water baths. Click to continue: A new era Return to top