Eagle Springs, Kansas

Eagle Springs, Kansas, was once a destination in the Iowa Township, located in the extreme eastern part of Doniphan County. This section of country, characterized by high, rounded elevations separated by deep valleys, lies in a well-wooded forest surrounded on three sides by a bend in the Missouri River.

The only mineral springs in the county were not discovered by whites until 1857, although Native Americans had been aware of their existence for a long time.

The Ioway tribe tribe had a village located there long before the creation of Kansas Territory. It is believed that a prehistoric race once camped there, a place rich in stone implements and crude relics of the past.

The springs flow from rocky ledges near the base of picturesque Lookout Mountain, about a mile from a rugged bluff that skirts the Missouri River. Tradition has it that medicine men from Indian Tribes that roamed the area more than 250 years ago discovered “miraculous” healing properties in the spring waters. It was also considered a fountain of “perpetual” youth.

Prior Plank, a resident of the area, attempted to capitalize on these legends when he established Eagle Springs in 1883. Plank employed the services of chemists to examine the water, which resulted in Plank’s belief in the water’s ability to cure. He then erected a large hotel, a bathhouse, two cottages, and a fine artificial lake well stocked with fish. During the summer, a resident physician may usually be found at the Eagle Springs hotel. The two most important springs are the upper spring, which has a flow of not over thirty gallons per hour, and the lower spring, which was quite near the bathhouse, and had a flow of 300 gallons per hour and a temperature of 55.4° F.

Another enticing feature was the many Eagles seen in flight around the resort, and in fact, the resort is located near “Lookout Mountain.” Lookout Mountain is said to provide views of over 50 miles in any direction with the naked eye.

During the excavation of a large mound for the hotel’s foundation at Eagle Springs, evidence of the country’s prehistoric habitation was unearthed eight feet underground.

Eagle Spring Resort was prolifically advertised in newspapers around the world, with one journalist noting Eagle Springs Resort as “there is no more beautiful or romantic-looking spot.”

Before long, thousands flocked to the resort to utilize the mineral waters as a cure for real and imaginary ailments. People took the train on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad to Highland Station (now Sparks, Kansas). From there, it was a two-mile wagon journey north to the curative springs. Later, the railroad established a station at the springs and operated excursion trains. Visitors drank the waters, climbed Lookout Mountain, hunted for Indian arrowheads, and enjoyed the rugged timberland.

Later, Prior Plank and Peter Weidemeier captured one of the majestic eagles and placed it in a cage on the courthouse grounds, and it was kept alive for many years. The captured eagle was considered a promotional asset for the resort.

Eagle Springs should have ultimately been a success, but Plank lacked capital, and the resort closed in 1937.

After it closed, various people attempted to rejuvenate the community, but their efforts were unsuccessful.

Nothing remains of the old resort today, as the buildings and other conveniences have long since decayed or been destroyed by fire.

Stone axes, spear heads, flint arrow points, and broken fragments of primitive pottery are scattered over a scope of country, extending south from the mouth of Wolf River to Eagle Springs and westward along the Wolf River Valley north of Sparks, and southeast to the old town site of Lafayette on the Missouri River. These implements are sometimes found covered up, six or eight feet underground. In these places, heaps of ashes, burnt stones, bones of wild animals, and shells of mussels are found.

Eagle Springs was located between Troy and Iowa Point, just north of U.S. Highway 36.

©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, July 2025.

Also See:

Doniphan County Photo Gallery

Extinct Towns of Doniphan County

Kansas Counties

Kansas Destinations

Sources:

Gray, Patrick L.; Gray’s Doniphan County History, Roycroft Press, Bendena, KS, 1905
Hiawatha World
Kansas Geological Survey
The Sedalia Democrat, Sedalia, Missouri, Thursday, June 26, 1969

 

Eagle Springs, Doniphan County – Post Office 1883-?? – The townsite was abandoned, and only ruins remain. It was a health resort that lasted into the 1930s.