The US state where 'America drinks its way to health'

Once known as one of the US’s greatest health resorts, the small Texas town of Mineral Wells was recently designated the state's official Wellness Capital.

When most people think of Texas, chances are that oil, cattle, rodeos and Tex-Mex cuisine come to mind. But Mineral Wells, a small town that straddles Palo Pinto and Parker Counties in north Texas, has a very different claim to fame: in the 19th Century, it was renowned as one of the US’s "greatest health resorts"– and it's now once again on the rise as a wellness destination.

The small town – designated the official Wellness Capital of Texas  by state legislators in 2023 – has nine underground wells with impressive mineral content. The water, packed full of micronutrients like calcium, potassium, magnesium and lithium, is the only mineral water in Texas suitable for bathing as well as drinking. Visitors have long flocked here to sip and soak in the healing water that has some of the highest mineral content in the world and is renowned for its curative properties.

But when Mineral Wells was settled in the late 1800s, early residents had no idea of the bounty beneath their feet. Judge James Alvis Lynch, wife Armanda and their 10 children travelled from Dennison, Texas, to the Millsap Valley in the Palo Pinto Mountains in search of a drier climate to help the couple's rheumatism.

However, they soon tired of walking four miles to retrieve water from a nearby river, and "the first well in what would become Mineral Wells was dug on their 100-acre homestead in 1880", said Rose Jordan, director of tourism at Visit Mineral Wells. The family thought the water tasted "funny" but started consuming it when it did no harm to their livestock.

Soon, she said, the Lynches found relief from rheumatism, and the entire family reported better health. The water quickly became renowned for its health benefits, such as allegedly improving digestion and alleviating arthritis, with thousands of people travelling to Mineral Wells to find relief. Lynch started selling the water for $0.05 a cup (about $1.70 in today's time) – and soon had more customers than he could handle.

"Since our founding days, Mineral Wells has been built upon the most fundamental of elements – water," said Jordan. "The mineral-rich water from our wells is healthful, healing and pure; it's liquid gold."

The thousands that came here to drink the water included Ed Dismuke, who had a life-threatening stomach disease. "His health improved considerably, and in 1904 Dismuke went on to launch the Famous Mineral Water Company, bottling the water that had helped save his life," Jordan said.

As word spread, more and more people headed to Mineral Wells, and new wells were drilled to facilitate new bathhouses, drinking pavilions and spas. The arrival of trains in 1891 made the city even more popular and spread the water beyond north Texas; in 1900, more than 150,000 visitors flooded in from across the US to bathe and drink in the mineral pools and spas. Mineral Wells became so popular that over the years, what quickly became Texas's premier spa resort town welcomed luminaries like US President Dwight Eisenhower; Lyndon B Johnson (before he was president); and actors Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Roy Rogers, Marlene Dietrich and the Three Stooges.

"By 1909, Mineral Wells had seven wells and pavilions, four bathing houses, 46 hotels and boarding houses, and two sanitoriums. It was home to 21 mineral water companies by 1913," explained Carol Elder, who now owns Famous Mineral Water Company, which bottles Crazy Water, the only water company still in business in Mineral Wells.

However, the Great Depression and the economic crisis that followed led to a slide in the popularity of mineral springs and wellness resorts. Focus, and travellers, shifted from Mineral Wells and most the town's water companies closed down by the end of the 1940s. The town's economy shifted to a reliance on the nearby military base, Fort Wolters.

But now, with increased interest in wellness, spas, fitness centres and retreats catering to a new generation of health-conscious individuals, Mineral Wells is aiming to be what it once was: the place "where America drinks its way to health" and a must-visit destination for anyone seeking a wellness getaway.

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"The minerals in our water are naturally occurring; not added or created in some factory. In a world where people are discovering that water can be as processed as cheese, they are looking for natural options," Elder said.

As part of the movement to reclaim this rich past, the Crazy Water Hotel, built in 1927 and a historic landmark, recently finished a $22m renovation, courtesy of 88 local investors, including Elder. It has a water bar that serves all the varieties of Crazy Water, as well as Crazy popsicles and a Crazy Fizz Sorbetto Float, made with sorbetto and carbonated Crazy Water. And the landmark Baker Hotel & Spa, a 14-storey Spanish Colonial building, is scheduled to reopen in spring 2026 after a $76m renovation. Both house spas offer mineral baths.  

Jordan, who says that while the town was "built on the waters" and "continues to grow on those roots", notes that Visit Mineral Wells has much else to offer the wellness-minded visitor, with excellent hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, hunting, fishing spots, kayaking and camping in the area.

Clark Gardens, a botanical garden spread over 35 acres, offers a range of events focused on wellness, the outdoors and the arts through the year. On 20-22 September, World Wellness Weekend, a range of activities that prioritise self-care and wellbeing are planned.

And Crazy Wellness Retreats (immersive wellness weekends held every quarter) showcase local wellness activities, from meditation and mindfulness workshops to yoga and nutrition seminars and, of course, mineral water baths.

"A wellness-minded traveller now seeks opportunities to experience nature, and we are rich in those," Jordan says, citing the three state parks, four lakes, the only natural rock-climbing area in north Texas and more than 30 miles of hiking and biking trails. "We are using our natural bounty – mineral water, lakes, rivers, parks and more – to build a healthful future for people."

However, water continues to dominate the town's past and present. "Mineral Wells grew on the properties of its waters and has once again brought health and wellness back into priority," Elder said.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story contained an incorrect cost for the water. This has now been fixed.

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