Paris Springs Hotel

[Setherick]

This is not strictly a UE question, but the people on this board are probably the best local history experts that I know. I’m a graduate student at Missouri State and recently while in Carthage, I found a copy of Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward: 2000 – 1887 at a flea market for a couple of bucks. Bellamy’s novel is one of the best selling, best received Utopian novels. It was first published in 1888. My copy is an edition from 1889. That is the part that interested me.

This is the part that may interest you. The novel I purchased was given to a woman named Eva Bowker of Paris Springs (as evident by the inscription on the front and back covers of the book) for Christmas 1892 by a man named E.G. Paris. At the time, E.G. Paris ran a popular hotel in Paris Springs Missouri (a few miles west of Halltown) in Lawrence County. The hotel was popular because of the reported healing properties of the local mineral spring. A few years before, Paris had sold half of his investiture of the hotel to B.F. Bowker, the local shoemaker. I am still tracking down the connection of Eva Bowker to B.F. Bowker, if there is one.

Why I am posting this here is I’m curious if anyone knows about the hotel in Paris Springs? I’m sure the site no longer exists. I’ve read a couple of local histories, but haven’t been able to extrapolate much more detail than I have provided. Any help you could provide would be much appreciated. The reason I am doing the research, by the way, is that I eventually want to do a reception study of the novel based around Eva Bowker, women’s issues, and how social problems would have been different between 1890 SWMO where the book was given as a gift and 1890 Boston what the novel is commenting on. Whereas 1890 Boston was an industrialized city, 1890 Paris Springs was still a developing frontier town.

As I said earlier, this isn’t really a UE question, but I thought some of you would be interested. If you want to contact me directly, email me at setherick@gmail.com

patrick seth williams

[slow_walker]

Here's all I was able to find, maybe some of the names mentioned will give you another avenue to find information. Each paragraph came from 2 different websites. This is all the info each website had about Paris Springs

"Paris Springs is the new name of the old settlement of 1855, known as Johnson’s Mills. Clever Creek affords a good power, which is utilized by the Cherry & Johnson, J. R. Johnson and W. F. Likens flouring mills, the O. P. Johnson saw and woolen mills and E. L. Davis’ chair factory. In 1882 Oliver P. Johnson was postmaster; B. F. Johnson, general merchant; E. G. Paris, hotel proprietor; F. M. Johnson, wagon-maker; Henry Berry, blacksmith; B. F. Bowker, shoemaker; Marshall Willson, live-stock dealer, and Robert Kimmons, attorney. The chalybeate springs here are among the noted ones of the many in Southwest Missouri. In October, 1872, a post-office was established at Chalybeate Springs with Postmaster Rex in charge. About this time, October 3, the hotel was opened by H. V. Waring, manager for Paris, the owner."


"Just a few more miles down the road you will come upon what little is left of Paris Springs Junction. Settled one half mile north of the intersection in 1872, it was named after a local hotel owner. By the turn of the century, the town was known for its iron-rich healing waters as travelers partook of the nearby springs and bottled waters that were produced here at one time. All that is left today is an old gas station and garage that was once called Gay Purita after the local proprietor."

[greekspeak]

Here's all I was able to find, maybe some of the names mentioned will give you another avenue to find information. Each paragraph came from 2 different websites. This is all the info each website had about Paris Springs

"Paris Springs is the new name of the old settlement of 1855, known as Johnson’s Mills. Clever Creek affords a good power, which is utilized by the Cherry & Johnson, J. R. Johnson and W. F. Likens flouring mills, the O. P. Johnson saw and woolen mills and E. L. Davis’ chair factory. In 1882 Oliver P. Johnson was postmaster; B. F. Johnson, general merchant; E. G. Paris, hotel proprietor; F. M. Johnson, wagon-maker; Henry Berry, blacksmith; B. F. Bowker, shoemaker; Marshall Willson, live-stock dealer, and Robert Kimmons, attorney. The chalybeate springs here are among the noted ones of the many in Southwest Missouri. In October, 1872, a post-office was established at Chalybeate Springs with Postmaster Rex in charge. About this time, October 3, the hotel was opened by H. V. Waring, manager for Paris, the owner."


"Just a few more miles down the road you will come upon what little is left of Paris Springs Junction. Settled one half mile north of the intersection in 1872, it was named after a local hotel owner. By the turn of the century, the town was known for its iron-rich healing waters as travelers partook of the nearby springs and bottled waters that were produced here at one time. All that is left today is an old gas station and garage that was once called Gay Purita after the local proprietor."

Sounds like metal detector fun. Anyone try looking at the site with google earth or something to see if you can see where anything was?