Maramec Spring

Useful Information

Location:	21880 Maramec Spring Drive, St. James MO. 65559. (37.9533767, -91.5327539)
Open:	All year daily dusk-dawn. [2024]
Fee:	Car USD 5. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Spring
Light:	n/a
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	The James Foundation, Maramec Spring Park, 21880 Maramec Spring Drive, St. James MO. 65559, Tel: +1-573-265-7387.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1823	Nathaniel Cook discovers hematite in this area.
1825	deposit assessed by Thomas James.
1826	Samuel Massey relocates to Missouri to oversee the construction and operation of Maramec Iron Works.
1829	Maramec Iron Works completed.
1876	Maramec Iron Works bankrupt.
1938	Lucy Wortham James incorporates the estate into a Trust and authorizes the establishment of the James Foundation.

Description

photography — Maramec Spring, U.S.A. Public Domain.

Maramec Spring is the 5th largest spring in Missoury. But despite this rather lame superlative, the spring is definitely worth a visit. So first about the karst related stuff: this spring is a Vauclusian type karst spring, with water welling up from deep below. As always, the water is quite blue with a green tint when the sun shines, a result of the high amount of dissolved minerals, namely limestone, which are dissolved in the water. There is a trail around the spring which actually runs through a cave, a shelter, at the far side of the spring. The spring is the source of a river named Maramec Spring Branch, which flows into Meramec River after about 600 m.

The spring is located in Maramec Spring Park, which offers lawn barbecue area, a trout hatchery, rainbow trout fishing, and even a historic monument. The site is the location of an iron furnace, which is in a rather well preserved state. The furnace started with the discovery of hematite by Nathaniel Cook in 1823. This was only two years after Missouri had attained statehood, and he was conducting land surveys on behalf of the US General Land Surveying Office. He reported his discovery, and Thomas James, who operated an Iron Works in Ohio, learned of this land report. He personally assessed the deposit in 1825, then he established Maramec Iron Works.

A furnace needs several resources to operate profitable, which were all available here. It requires iron ore, timber to produce charcoal for the heat, limestone as flux, and water. All four resources where available here. The Maramec Iron Works were the first iron works west of the Mississippi River. For half a century it was the major supplier to a vast portion of the region. The furnace provided raw iron to the Union during the American Civil War.