Hidden Gem in Missouri Was Thought to Have Magical Healing Powers

There was once a place in Missouri that people believed had magical healing powers. So much so that even a doctor was in out the healing potential.

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Welch Springs Hospital Ruins, which can be found on the banks of the Current River, was said to have magical healing powers. Now, we know this isn't a real thing, but one person truly thought that he was headed by the spring and started building a spa around the spring to help those in need.

In the early 1900s, an Illinois doctor said the spring with its soothing waters had healed him of hay fever. Because of this, the doctor wanted to share the power of the spring and started constructing a spa/hospital to help those who needed the healing powers of the spring.

Dr Diehl believed that the spring water had healing properties and that cool, pollen free air coming from the adjacent cave would be beneficial for people with asthma, emphysema, and tuberculosis, which together were called "consumption" at the time.

The doctor did get the report built, but by the time it was ready to open the Great Depression hit, and with traveling, the cost to use the resort, and the lack of easy access to the caves to get to the spring the resort did not last long. When Diehl passed in the 1940s the property went to the family and they were not interested in maintaining the resort and left it to have Mother Nature take over.

The hospital is a ruin today, but still stands next to the beautiful Welch Spring. It is located between Cedargrove and Akers on the Upper Current. It is best reached by canoe.

It's one of those hidden gems in the Show-Me State that you have to wonder, does it have magical healing powers or was it just a ploy to get people to think it was? We may never know.