Monark Springs is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

in Newton County,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, United States. It is located approximately five miles east of Neosho. The site is on the north bank of Hickory Creek about 1.5 miles east of

U.S. Route 60 U.S. Route 60 is a major east–west United States highway, traveling from southwestern Arizona to the Atlantic Ocean coast in Virginia. The highway's eastern terminus is in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where it is known as General Booth Bouleva ...

. The

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

associated with the town is located within the Hickory Creek

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

approximately 500 feet to the southeast.

History

Founded by Truman Elmore, the town was named after the

Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad The Missouri and North Arkansas was a railroad in Missouri and Arkansas from 1906 to 1935, with its successor lasting until 1946. History The railroad began as the Eureka Springs Railway in 1883 as a line from the St. Louis–San Francisco Ra ...

, resulting in the name, MoNArk Springs. In August 1956, an outbreak of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

occurred in Monark Springs during a national Church of God camp meeting that had over 400 members from other states as far west as

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and east to

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, attending. The cases continued to spread outside of the town after the meeting, with 16 reported cases cropping up in various parts of

and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

CDC The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, ...

officials were sent to the camp site to investigate the water in the area, in order to determine the exact source of the outbreak. It was eventually discovered that a carrier of typhoid fever had unknowingly contaminated the water in the well that had been used as drinking water for the entire camp site.

References

External links

Newton County Tourism
Former populated places in Newton County, Missouri Ghost towns in Missouri {{NewtonCountyMO-geo-stub

History

References

Further reading

External links