Mineral Wells
Mineral Wells, Palo Pinto County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A town built on water. Founded 1877 by J. A. Lynch, a settler who miraculously recovered from rheumatism after drinking the foul-tasting, but apparently healthful, water in this well. As the news spread, hundreds converged to "take" the waters, and a boom town sprang up. Its commercial slogan "crazy" arose from a deputed cure of insanity at the "crazy woman well". Although the water's curative value is likely due to dissolved epsom and glauber salts, amazing powers were attributed to it. For years Mineral Wells was Texas' leading health spa. (1969)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Mineral Wells was, as its marker says, 'a town built on water.' Founded in 1877 by settler J. A. Lynch, who claimed a near-miraculous recovery from rheumatism after drinking the foul-tasting well water, it boomed as hundreds flocked to 'take the waters.' Its 'Crazy Water' slogan sprang from a reputed cure at the 'crazy woman well,' and for years the town reigned as Texas' leading health spa—its curative reputation resting largely on dissolved mineral salts.
Why it matters
Mineral Wells captures America's turn-of-the-century faith in healing springs, when whole towns rose on the promise that a glass of local water could cure what ailed you.
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Related people
- · J. A. Lynch
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
First Baptist Church of Mineral Wells
Mineral Wells, TX
Born out of an 1882 revival led by traveling preacher William Evander Penn, the 'Texas Evangelist,' the First Baptist Church of Mineral Wells gathered 54 charter members in a booming spa town. Over the decades its pulpit drew famous evangelists like Billy Sunday and 'Gypsy' Smith, and its members planted mission churches across the community. Early pastor George Webb Slaughter had once carried dispatches for Sam Houston during the Texas Revolution.
Elmwood Cemetery
Mineral Wells, TX
When Mineral Wells needed a proper burial ground, landowners donated acreage to the city in 1883, and the graves from an earlier spot known as The Cove were carefully relocated here the next year. Among those laid to rest are the town's founder, James A. Lynch, his wife Arminda, and a generation of pioneer citizens who built the young West Texas town. First simply the City Cemetery, it took the softer name Elmwood after the ladies of the civic league planted elm trees across the grounds in 1913.
Sam Savage, Captive of the Comanches
Mineral Wells, TX
In March 1866, five-year-old Sam Savage survived a Comanche raid on his father's Parker County farm that killed his father Bolin and his uncle James; Sam, his brother, and a cousin were carried off into captivity. After a posse failed to overtake the raiders, trader John Fields located the children that November and ransomed them for $414 at Fort Arbuckle. Sam went on to become a rancher, farmer, and champion fiddler, living to 90 and often recounting the months he spent learning the Comanche language and the bow before his return.
Hittson Cemetery
Palo Pinto, TX
This burial ground began with the family of Jesse Hittson, a Virginia-born pioneer who came to the area in 1855 and started raising cattle at an important early Brazos River crossing that became known as Hittson Bend. Hittson helped organize Palo Pinto County in 1857, and his is the oldest marked grave here. Five generations of the family rest at this site, including relatives who rose to prominence in the cattle industry and the region's development.