In 1835 the owner of the Sour Lake tract of land, Stephen Jackson, drank the waters of the lake. He initially thought he had been poisoned but soon began to feel rejuvenated. Jackson believed that the lake held medicinal properties. For more than a half-century after that people came from around Texas and Louisiana for it’s healing waters. The water in the lake was sulfurous due to the oil strata that lay beneath the surface. Completed in the eighteen-forties the hotel brought hundreds of visitors each year in search of the promised cures. Newspapers from El Paso to Washington D. C. told of the healing waters of the lake. These newspapers also told of the illustrious visitors that came for healing including the president of Texas, Sam Houston. The hotel and lake brought some money into the area. The hotel had as many as one hundred visitors at a time according to a local newspaper. As the only draw for people to come to the town, the Sour Lake Springs hotel and spa stayed in business as a medicinal resort until oil was struck in 1901. The discovery of oil changed the dynamics of the hotel from health to home. After the turn of the century people mostly visited the city in search of “black gold” and wealth. The hotel and mineral springs brought many visitors to the small community, but very few people lived in Sour Lake before the nineteen hundreds and travel to and from the city was
In 1835 the owner of the Sour Lake tract of land, Stephen Jackson, drank the waters of the lake. He initially thought he had been poisoned but soon began to feel rejuvenated. Jackson believed that the lake held medicinal properties. For more than a half-century after that people came from around Texas and Louisiana for it’s healing waters. The water in the lake was sulfurous due to the oil strata that lay beneath the surface. Completed in the eighteen-forties the hotel brought hundreds of visitors each year in search of the promised cures. Newspapers from El Paso to Washington D. C. told of the healing waters of the lake. These newspapers also told of the illustrious visitors that came for healing including the president of Texas, Sam Houston. The hotel and lake brought some money into the area. The hotel had as many as one hundred visitors at a time according to a local newspaper. As the only draw for people to come to the town, the Sour Lake Springs hotel and spa stayed in business as a medicinal resort until oil was struck in 1901. The discovery of oil changed the dynamics of the hotel from health to home. After the turn of the century people mostly visited the city in search of “black gold” and wealth. The hotel and mineral springs brought many visitors to the small community, but very few people lived in Sour Lake before the nineteen hundreds and travel to and from the city was