Saratoga Park Near Willow Springs Opened One Hundred Years Ago

One hundred years ago this week, the front page of our local paper carried the news of the completion of the clubhouse at Saratoga Springs.

 

Around three miles northwest of Willow Springs, near the Pine Grove Community, Big Indian Creek winds through the wooded hills and hollows of northwest Howell County, eventually joining the Norfork (or North Fork) of the White River. Fed by the Middle and Little Indian Creeks, the Big Indian flows through some of the most picturesque parts of the county. The name Indian Creek, which is common in Missouri, including Howell County, dates back to at least the 1850s and 60s, as shown on period maps. According to early historian Henry Smith, "the first settlers claimed that after the main part of the Indian tribes had gone, a large group remained along the creeks on the Howell and Douglas county line." These early pioneers likely encountered Cherokee, Choctaw, Shawnee, Delaware, and other Native peoples who had escaped the 1836 Trail of Tears removal and were hiding out in this remote area. This corner of the county, with its flowing streams, held onto hardwood and pine forests, while much of the rest of Howell County was dominated by bluestem grass prairie that was burned annually. 

 

One of many attractive spots along the Big Indian Creek, Saratoga Springs, is identified by Cora Ann Pottenger in her 1945 master's thesis, "Place Names of Five Southern Border Counties of Missouri," master's thesis. Interviewing local old-timers Anna Ferguson and J. M. Spence, she determined that Saratoga was named by early hunters who came into the area and found the water from two springs feeding the creek "tasted like that of Saratoga Springs of New York." It is a pleasant spot, nestled deep in a valley between high hills with limestone bluffs dropping suddenly ten to fifteen feet into a stony, limestone-bottomed, bubbling brook. Folks in the Pine Grove community used the location for years as a picnic spot or for occasional outings, with visitors from Willow Springs often riding out in wagons or on horseback to cool off in summer. The site was close enough for young folks to walk or ride their bikes there when kids were more inclined to do so. Mike Laden and I rode our bikes there when we were around ten. We had no idea of the history behind what had long been known as Saratoga Park.

 

In 1887, F. F. Teeter of Willow Springs made the first attempt to commercialize Saratoga. He prepared a plat and laid out lots for a town overlooking Indian Creek, intending to create a resort. When that failed, the site became a local "park" again. Merchants in Willow Springs later built a gazebo there, used for years as a bandstand during gatherings.

 

In March 1906, the Willow Springs Republican carried an article announcing that a group in Willow Springs intended to erect what sounds like a gazebo. The article stated: "Do not be misled by the name of Saratoga Club. We use this term to describe the grounds on which we will soon erect an octagon building, twenty feet in diameter and fifteen feet high. The building is to shelter picnickers from sudden showers. This place has been called Saratoga for years. Taxpayers have kept up the State Fisheries, while the fish belong to the public." The article continues: voluntary contributions would support the public good, and all buildings would be public. "We expect to stock the nearby ponds and streams with fish and create a park at Saratoga. The barefoot boy with one suspender and a bent pin for a fishhook will be as welcome as Teddy (Roosevelt) would be. If this idea appeals to you, call on S.S. Hannah to make your contribution and join this Club of willing workers for the public good.—By order of the Committee." Apparently, the idea didn't catch on, but at least a gazebo was built.

 

Because Pine Grove was so close, Saratoga never became a town or got a post office. There was a watermill on the creek that powered a cabinet shop and created jobs in the early 1900s.

 

By the mid-1920's, the automobile's invasion of Howell County was well underway. Throughout South Central Missouri, "good roads" proponents and committees were clamoring for the improvement of the dirt pathways into graded roads. Early contracts were awarded in the Willow Springs area, providing a 30-foot graded road along State Route 16, today's U.S. 60; and State Route 7, today's U.S. 63. It would be a decade and a half before the highway would be blacktopped, but the greatly improved roadway was a boon for auto tourism. In the same timeframe, Missouri launched a program to pave the way for new state parks at Big Spring and Round Spring to the east. Resorts were popping up throughout the Ozarks, and private clubhouses were built along all the larger rivers. Tourism was the new industry, driven by the automobile.

 

The improvement of Willow Springs' roads during this period can be attributed to local businessmen. Charles Ferguson, a Highway Commission member, campaigned for a State Highway Department headquarters in town. The new District 9 Highway Department building was constructed from stone quarried in Saratoga. As a result, the road to Saratoga Park was greatly improved.

 

Three Willow Springs businessmen, M. Burt Messler, Harve Littrell, and Ford Piatt, joined forces to capture some of those potential tourist dollars. During this timeframe, the highway passed through the town, and since the three were already in business with a restaurant called "The Food Court," they saw an opportunity at Saratoga Park. Messler owned the electric company in Willow Springs and was already extending lines westward toward Pine Grove. On January 21, 1926, the group announced that work on the erection of a large log cabin at the Park, to be a future resort, began on Monday. They told the Willow Springs Republican, "The grounds will be cleaned up and many improvements made to make it quite an attraction by summer." 

 

Mother Nature dealt a setback when, on the first of February, a foot of snow fell, and the thermometer dropped below zero. A man had hauled logs there for the clubhouse. At the end of February 1926, more details were provided via the papers under the headline "Saratoga Park to be a Model Playground.” It was reported that “The cabin, nearly completed, was 34 by 50 feet, to be used for parties, dancing, and so on. A 12-foot-high dam will be built across Indian Creek, creating a lake for swimming, boating, and fishing. Electric lights will be installed, a golf course and a tennis court will be built." It was also announced that the owners had decided to sell memberships for one to five years. The man's cabin was complete enough to host dancing on weekends in late March and early April 1926.

 

By May 1926, the concrete dam was finished, and on the 20th, the Willow Springs Republican announced that, "The water is expected to be turned in the lake this week; also, the new electric piano will arrive, which is being shipped from Chicago, then real activities will begin." The dam eventually impounded 8 acres of water, creating a sand beach. The article also told of paths being made around the park, leading down to a swimming pool, and cabins being erected on the other side of the creek. Ten days later, Saratoga Park was opened to the public. The editor of the West Plains Journal described the main clubhouse as being made of native pine logs, "with hardwood floors especially laid for dancing, and the large porch, overlooking the lake, is similarly equipped so that a very large party of dancers can be accommodated without crowding. "Work on the cabins was still ongoing, and a new deep well had been drilled. A wooden bridge allowing cars to cross the creek to the smaller cabins had just been completed. The article stated the three investors from Willow Springs, "have invested a large amount of money with the belief that the people of this section should have just such a place to go and that they will appreciate the opportunity Saratoga Park furnishes and will patronize it liberally." 

 

The Saratoga gossip column in the Willow Springs Republican weekly mentioned a stream of local and out-of-town elites enjoying the resort. In June 1926, the editors of all area newspapers were invited to a dinner at the clubhouse, followed by a convention of the South Missouri Telephone Association. On July 22, at the Missouri Rural Letter Carriers Convention, 967 people were served at a barbecue given at the park, serving 1,200 pounds of meat. The previous month, T. R. Burns, owner of a furniture and undertaker business in Willow Springs, hosted a meeting of the Ozark Embalmers' Association. 

 

In May 1927, the Park reopened for its second summer season. All appeared to be going as planned. In June 1928, the Saratoga Park Company conducted a campaign in area papers to sell lakefront cabin sites for one week before offering them outside the area. Things were not going well financially. Likely, the debt load of such a large investment was taking its toll. On June 13, 1929, before the panic on Wall Street plunged the nation into the great depression, the Howell County Gazette announced that, "Saratoga Park, a popular summer resort three miles west of Willow Springs, will shortly be sold at public sale under a judgment rendered in the circuit court against the property. The Willow Springs Commission and Lumber Company got a judgment against the property."

 

The Lumber Company next leased the resort to H. E. Lowry of Pomona in July 1930. Lowery was described in the newspaper article as being experienced in handling resorts and amusement parks. His experience must not have helped, and the park was next sold to F. H. Hammer and J.A. Armstrong. At the end of August, the Willow Springs Republican announced that the Saratoga Club House and one small cabin had burned from some unknown cause. "The fire was not discovered until it was nearly all burned to the ground, and it was too late to try to save them." The owners had a total of $1,500 in insurance coverage for the two buildings. 

 

A great amount of speculation swirls around the ultimate fate of the Saratoga Park. Prohibition was the law throughout its existence as a resort, and some theories circulate about its role in illegal activity in its latter years. Rumors state that the Ma Barker gang and other area criminal gangs routinely visited the resort and ran illegal liquor. Some say neighbors got fed up with patrons misbehaving while there and were responsible for not only the burning of the cabins, but also dynamiting the dam. Likely a major factor was that the business failed and could not recover during the depression.

 

Today, little remains to indicate Saratoga Park's once-grand existence and its role in the community. Some of the concrete pilings for the Club House and deck remain, and pieces of the dam stand on both sides of the creek. Traces of the roadway and pathways to the resort features can be detected in the winter, when the bluffs overlooking the creek grow enormous ten to 12-foot icicles in freezing weather. The Big Indian Creek is again unimpeded and peaceful on its journey to the Gulf.

 

The Saratoga site is privately owned and should not be visited without permission.