How Excelsior Springs revived its historic downtown and avoided the fate of declining rural towns...

The Missouri tourist town once faced the same stress as many rural areas, with a declining population and abandoned buildings. But a conscious effort to fix the downtown's infrastructure and beautify public spaces has turned the economy around.
Downtown Excelsior Springs, Missouri, literally drips with history.

In the 1880s, a farmer discovered the healing properties of the reddish-brown waters of Siloam Spring – claiming his daughter was cured of her tuberculosis after drinking and bathing in the waters. Word quickly spread and a town blossomed around the spring, as did more than 40 wells, each delivering a different slurry of minerals.

Excelsior Springs soon became something of a health care tourism destination. Presidents and gangsters, as well as everyday folk, would travel from all over to stay in town, drink from the wells and soak at the spas.