Drink it up, soak it up

Contact Chris

Smiley face

Contact Index staff writer Chris Agee
at cagee@mineralwellsindex.com.

Related Photos

Famous Water Company co-owner Carol Elder turns the knob to fill a tub with No. 3 Crazy Water to provide a bather with a mineral bath. Mineral Wells was once a famous mineral spa destination city. Chris Agee/Index

The Index welcomes comments. Inappropriate language or comments outside our standards will be removed.

comments powered by Disqus

November 11, 2012

Drink it up, soak it up

City’s famous spa days revived with Famous Water Company’s re-introduction of mineral baths

Anonymous Mineral Wells Index The Mineral Wells Index Sun Nov 11, 2012, 11:00 AM CST

By CHRIS AGEE

Absent since the Baker Hotel closed in the early 1970s, a local company is once again offering the same type of mineral bath that once attracted thousands of visitors to the community.

Famous Water Co., which bottles and sells four varieties of locally sourced mineral water, Crazy Water, will begin accepting reservations for the soaks beginning Monday.

“People came here near the turn of [the 20th] century,” said Famous Water Owner Carol Elder. “They would not only drink the mineral water, they would bathe in it, too.”

She said the experience is different than many hot spring baths, explaining, “Most of those are just thermal places where you bathe. It wasn’t drinking water, as well.”

Though Elder makes no medical claims about the benefits of a soak, she said anecdotal evidence throughout the years indicates many individuals feel better afterwards.

“It was believed they would heat up the waters and you’d have great absorption of minerals in your skin,” she said, noting people have used the therapy “for skin ailments, to ease muscles, that sort of thing.”

Famous Water currently has just one bath, Elder said, noting her objective is to recreate the former appeal of the experience “to see if they feel they still get the same results as back in the heyday.”

She explained more baths will be added as interest grows.

Though officially not open until Monday, she said a soft opening last week gave certain individuals an opportunity to get a preview of what will be available.

“The response has been phenomenal,” she said.

According to Elder and Mineral Wells Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Beth Henary Watson, potential visitors regularly ask if they can still take a mineral bath.

Elder said she is pleased the city can once again offer that unique experience.

Anyone interested can “come in and schedule a bath Monday through Saturday,” she said.

The $28 admission includes a 40-minute reservation in a private room and a choice of any variety of Famous Water, she said, because bathers are “encouraged to drink during the bath and after the bath.”