Mineral Springs Mall

The Mineral Springs Hotel was completed on August 1, 1914. Originally, the ornate interior contained terrazzo floors, marble staircases, decorated plaster cornices and designs and art glass throughout. It was elaborate and luxurious and an immediate success, especially after the mineral pool opened on the lower level.

From 1914 until the middle of the century, the hotel was a meeting place for traveling salesmen, public officials, civic leaders and socially prominent hostesses. High school sororities and fraternities held elaborately decorated dances at what they called the "Mineral." Ladies met there regularly to play bridge. The pool was the biggest draw for the hotel and quickly became a popular place for swimming lessons, water polo clubs and for those seeking the healing powers of the mineral waters. The swimming pool was filled with water from the mineral springs which bubbled up from the solid rock base on which the hotel was set. The water was collected in a big mineral water well, three stories below the pool and was pumped up to fill the pool.

The water was advertised as having healing powers for the weak and sickly. The infamous Doc Furlong gave "hydro-therapy" baths with the mineral water at the hotel. His patrons bathed and washed themselves with the newly found “healing water”. The treatment was recommended by Doc Furlong for headaches, colds and muscle aches.  It was said that at one time The Mineral Springs attracted over 30,000 people in a season. In July 1919, the water was bottled and shipped to other points in the United States, particularly to New Orleans and Memphis. The Alton Evening Telegraph quoted that the mineral water produces "remarkable cures."

In an attempt to attract more patronage, in 1950 the hotel management decided to add a ball room. It was built to seat 1200 people at a cost of $500,000. However, such events were no longer as popular as they had once been.  

The decline in the business began in the 1950s and accelerated in the 1960s. On September 2, 1969, the Alton Savings and Loan Association foreclosed on the property.  By 1970, the hotel walls were faded, repairs were needed and poor housekeeping was visible. On January 30, 1971, Alton Mayor Paul Lenz ordered the dining room closed and the city ordered the hotel to close because of building code violations. Residents who had taken up as permanent guests and other patrons were given until March 3, 1971 to move out. The building was closed from 1971 to 1978, at which point Robert Schuler purchased it and turned it into a mall. Bob and Brenda Love later purchased the building and eventually sold it to Steve Tschudy. 

His love and desire to see this magnificent building once again thrive has been a labor of love.  The newly renovated grand ballroom (opened in August 2004,) along with several smaller meeting and social rooms, retail shops, cafe, spa, barber, offices and antiques have brought the Mineral Springs full circle.

Thanks for the above information to: The Alton Telegraph (The Alton Evening Telegraph,) The Journal, The St. Louis Post Dispatch, The Alton Citizen, the Lewis & Clark Country, the Centennial History of Madison County, Alton City Directories, and the Alton Area Historical Society, and those who told their own stories along the line.