Healing Waters: Recreating and Contextualizing the Turn of the Century Site of Regent Spring in Excelsior Springs, Missouri

Summary

Beginning in 2015, the University of Missouri – St. Louis Archaeological Field School has taken place at the site of Regent Spring, a mineral water spring in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. Previous surveys of this and surrounding coeval sites have been lacking. This is partially due to the frequent flooding of the nearby Fishing River, which has altered the topography over the past century. During the excavation of the Regent Spring site, students were able to rediscover features of this turn of the century attraction and subsequently map portions of the site. This project cumulates three years of excavation and mapping, also piecing together primary source documents to recreate the original Regent Spring pavilion site. This research also provides context into the significance of the site in the overall narrative of Excelsior Springs at the height of its popularity as a health retreat in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Poster Submission 2018   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 689