Boswell Mineral Springs Resort:

It is Sepia Saturday time once again.  Sorry that I skipped last week, but I did get quite a bit done on some other projects.

This week, the picture of the people gathered around the creek are actually at a spa, or are on their way to one.  That one old lady is probably one of the maids, or the wife of the guy who is running the ferry, if that is indeed what they are waiting for.

In November of 2011, I posted about The Hotel McCredie, the history of a hot springs resort near Oakridge, Oregon that is no longer there.  It is one of my favorite Sepia Saturday posts, so when you are done here, please check it out if you have time.  

This post is about Boswell Mineral Springs Resort, which was located near Yoncalla and Drain, Oregon (a skip and a hop from Tin Pot Valley).  

 

I have always been fascinated by the place, which was destroyed forever in a "burn-to-learn" fire in May of 1991.  The picture below is one that I took in 1975, on an outing with my high school boyfriend, Roger.  We stopped there and dug around in the debris, and I found a pottery chip that I brought home with me.  I'm not sure if I still have that or not.  But, I still do have the picture ... and I am wishing once again that we had digital cameras back then.  I would have a taken hundred pictures of the place.  I don't think that Roger and I knew that this was a mineral springs joint, or we would have been trying to figure that part out also.  We just thought it was an old hotel.

The Yoncalla Historical Society published a book in 2001 named, "Yoncalla Yesterday".  There is a chapter in the book about Boswell Springs, and I scanned page 518 to show you what the place looked like in it's heyday:

Boswell Springs - two miles south of Drain, owned by Captain Benjamin Boswell. Post Office 1895- 1909.

Mom says that Granny Talitha Lestom Hedrick loved drinking the mineral water that came from Boswell Springs.  Nobody at her house was very interested in keeping her in good supply of it, but when her son-in-law (my grandfather) Floyd Traylor came to visit, he would always bring her several bottles of the stuff.  She would then comment, "That Floyd is such a nice man."  She is right, he was.

I have spent hours on the internet and am having a very hard time coming up with much about the resort itself, though there is a lot of information on one of the owners, Captain Benjamin D. Boswell.  He was the one who brought the ROTC to Oregon State University.  I'll make a separate post about him one day soon.

Courtesy of Lane County Historical Museum Website

 Courtesy of Lane County Historical Museum Website

 Courtesy of Lane County Historical Museum Website

Some of the highlights from the "Yoncalla Yesterday" chapter tell us the history about Boswell Mineral Springs Resort:

• Conrad Snowden was the first owner of the 320 acre plot, on May 20, 1874.  He noticed that the deer enjoyed licking the ground near his home and soon after discovered the springs.  Snowden's land adjoined Jesse Applegate's.
•  Mr. Snowden interested Dr. Daniel Payton from Salem into setting up a commercial spa on the property.  They developed the grounds and built the large three-story hotel.   The train stopped at the front door, and the stage coaches drove there too.
• There was a lake on the property that was formed by William Palmer's sawmill.  All kinds of activities were offered at the resort, including "boating, swimming, dancing, cabins, hiking, fishing and golf-putting".  Drinking the mineral water was thought to cure just about anything that ailed you.
• In 1877, Captain Benjamin D. Boswell and his wife bought the property, and changed the name.  It was a real destination point.  Even John D. Rockefeller visited, and was so impressed that he invested $10,000 of his own money into Boswell Mineral Springs Resort.
• The hotel and grounds were very beautiful.  Mrs. Boswell was an artist and quite the decorater.  There was a large swimming pool full of the spring water.  Unfortunately, the hotel burned to the ground in 1901.  The Boswells were devastated, but carried on.  They remodeled the former ballroom and guest house and kept things going until the Captain died in 1923 and his wife moved to California.
• Eventually, Mrs. Boswell sold the resort to Frank and Ernest Helliwell and Bill Harding.
• In 1932, a Eugene firm sought to sell the bottled water, but that never got off of the ground.
• 1949, Dr. Harrison Folk bought the property and turned it into a chiropractic clinic.  This lasted for around 10 years, but things became very run down.  Some had visions of making it a home for crippled children in the 60's, but the place just needed too much work.
• A Yoncalla family, the Harold Kinneys, used the building as an antique and ceramic store for awhile, and then it was abandoned.
• As mentioned above, the fire department burned it down in May of 1991.     

I did find this short article on the Benton County Museum's website. Though there was not a picture of "The Castle" attached, it must have been similar to those photos above:

BOSWELL MINERAL SPRINGS

The swiftly deteriorating old building you see here - known locally as "The Castle" - is the second grand resort hotel on this site. Conrad Snowden, who took a 320-acre claim here - joining Jesse Applegate on the south - realized the possibility of developing a spa. With a Dr. (John E.?) Payton, who eventually became sole owner, he built a 3-story hotel adjacent to the railroad and widely advertised the curative powers of the mineral springs.

In 1887, Captain Benjamin D. Boswell, USA Ret., and his wife bought the property. A native of Indiana, Boswell had risen in rank from 1st Sergeant to Major in the West Virginia Volunteers between 1861 and 1864. After the Civil War, he received a commission as a 2nd Lt. in the regular army with promotions to Brevet 1stt Lt. and Brevet Capt. "for gallant and meritorious service in the Siege of Vicksburg" and other wartime service. On June 18, 1873, the Board of Trustees of Corvallis College elected him military instructor, and for four years he was the first commandant of cadets and professor of military science at Corvallis State Agricultural College. The Army retired him in 1878.

The Boswells developed the handsome Boswell Mineral Springs Resort hotel in the 1890s with Mrs. B's paintings adorning the walls, potted palms on the wide veranda, and a well tended rose garden. They featured good food, built a swimming pool, and provided recreation for those who came "to take the cure": croquet, tennis, golf, horseback riding, hunting and fishing. The potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium, and iron compounds in the water were said to provide "Nature's Own Remedy for the Relief of rheumatism, stomach disorders, kidney troubles, and blood diseases."

A disastrous fire in 1901 destroyed the original building. This one, which had been built as a dormitory and ball room was converted into a hotel and sanatorium. After the Boswells, several other owners continued to operate it off and on as late as 1950.  Source:  Benton County Museum
 
I hope that I have covered it!  If anybody out there has memories of Boswell Mineral Springs Resort, please email me at: oregongiftsofcomfortandjoy@hotmail.com and I'll add them to this post.  Remember to check out The Hotel McCredie!

~ Kathy M. 

UPDATE:  I just got an email from Chris Adams today (Jan. 23, 2015).  

Chris wrote this:  "Hello, my grandfather is Harold Kinney, the one you mentioned in your story about Boswell resort, and he was just telling me about when he lived there that people came and swam in the mineral ponds and how much wood it took to heat the place when he lived there. 

I'm wondering if you know where I can find other pictures and information on the resort.  I saw some many, many years ago in the museum but can't find much online about it.  Thanks.

Link: Map and Info

So, there you are, my friends.  If you enjoyed this story, please visit my Sepia Saturday friends by "CLICKING HERE" to find other neat photos and stories.  To read more about my family and other stories featuring old photos, memories and more, please look for this picture of me and my dad on the left-hand sidebar and read whatever else catches your fancy.  Thanks so much for visiting!

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

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