Excelsior Springs, Mo. (April 20, 2025) – Excelsior Springs is home to a wealth of history within the confines of each historic property. Nevertheless, no other building in the community held the hope of healing and charm like the McCleary Sanitarium, owned and operated by Dr. Aretas S. McCleary.
According to the Northeast News, Dr. McCleary arrived in Kansas City in 1893 from Montgomery County, Missouri. Along with a desire to practice medicine, Dr. McCleary focused on treating individuals suffering from gastrointestinal and rectal diseases.
In 1921, McCleary opened the doors to his first clinic, the Parkview Sanitarium, located at 1000 Paseo Boulevard in the heart of Kansas City. Only in operation through 1924, postcards boasted of the facility’s success, stating that it was the “largest institution in the world devoted exclusively to treating rectal diseases, with over six thousand cured patients.”
However, once McCleary discovered the healing waters in Excelsior Springs, he decisively moved his business to the small rural community in 1925. Deon Wolfenbarger, associated with Three Gables Preservation and the Missouri State Park historical records within Excelsior Springs, cited that McCleary’s first intention was to convert the Elms Hotel into a sanitarium. However, McCleary did not think it was reasonable for his business model. Instead, he “leased the Plaza Hotel in 1925 at the northeast corner of St. Louis and Kansas City Avenue,” wrote Wolfenbarger.
Next to the Plaza Hotel, it was documented that the Elms Hotel owned a garage adjoining the property, which was used as the clinic; McCleary also purchased this garage to be part of the sanitarium. He transformed this new section into what was considered the general clinic, which opened in June of the same year.
Inside the facility, Wolfenbarger described the structure, noting that McCleary’s office was located in the far corner on the second floor. In addition, within the adjacent portion of the building, there were private offices along with a lecture room, a lobby on the first floor, and a walkthrough situated between both buildings. McCleary also incorporated a bathing area constructed in the basement of the Plaza Hotel, complete with hydrotherapy services. Patient rooms were located on the western side of the building, able to accommodate 100 people.
Now open to the public, the sanitarium was named the Excelsior Springs Clinic, boasting its specialty in rectal and colonic disorders. By 1930, Wolfenbarger wrote, the clinic “claimed to have over 15,000 cured patients,” as continued advertisements for free mineral water prescriptions for consumption and bathing.
Amid the clinic’s success, McCleary became involved with the local community and began to take a vested interest in the local newspaper, eventually curating his own publication, the McCleary News, in the late 1930s. Within the paper, updates were given about the clinic and the community, as headlines read, “Cured Without Surgery” and “Fifteen Years of Success—Read These Letters from Prominent Persons Who Have Been Cured of Piles, Fistula, Fissures, and Other Rectal Disease.” Other documented accounts noted in the McCleary News also highlight activities the clinic would host for patients, including photos of patients participating in games and music as well as palm readings.
Later in 1939, McCleary continued his interest in the news industry, even attempting to procure the Excelsior Springs Standard. Yet, Wolfenbarger discovered in his research that the paper “did not care to become a subsidized organ, operating under the orders of a sanitarium discredited by the medical profession.” McCleary did, however, go on to purchase the Excelsior Springs Daily News and Call, leading him to copyright his book.
The book, Building a Future for Excelsior Springs, compiled a plan for the community written by McCleary himself. Inside, the contents of the book detailed and outlined a “workable plan” along with how to pay for the success of the community. Ultimately, the book remained an archive of ideas. Still, McCleary continued writing and eventually penned another short excerpt titled Wapoo, which highlighted a fictional Native American story related to Excelsior Springs, also known as Peace Valley.
Although McCleary dabbled in publishing, his primary focus remained on the sanitarium, as patients, including Fred Tripp (71), visited in 1940, seeking the benefits of the healing waters. While staying at the sanitarium, Tripp became a known celebrity within the community. Due to his stay at McCleary’s establishment, he looked out his window and was inspired to see the American flag at rest atop the post office across the street. He grabbed a paintbrush and began painting the flag, now known as the iconic Our Flag masterpiece, which became one of the “most reproduced patriotic artworks in the country,” Wolfenbarger cited.
Others visiting the clinic wrote postcards to loved ones, such as one patient, Mrs. Goetsch, in 1942, as she wrote, “Dear Mable, here is the place I am and I guess the place to get well. Had my operation and am over the worst, I hope so. Sure meet people from all over the country, young and old, fat and small. Hope that from now on I will feel better.”
Later in 1957, McCleary joined forces with another medical facility, the Thornton-Minor Hospital. According to the Kansas City Scottish Rite, the Thornton-Minor Hospital was under the direction of Dr. William Minor from Chillicothe, MO until he died in the early 1900s. The hospital’s partner, namely Dr. Maris, decided to merge with the McCleary Sanitarium, continuing to treat patients suffering from gastrointestinal difficulties.
After immense success in the medical industry within the community, the sanitarium closed its doors, according to Wolfenbarger, in 1972, “having served over 300,000 people.” A year after its closure, the western part of the facility, comprising a dietary department and patient rooms, was torn down and later became the site of the Colony Plaza. However, part of the structure remains to remind the community of the historical significance held by the facility, as the McCleary Sanitarium was one of four clinics dedicated to the healing wealth of the area’s mineral waters.
If you appreciate the value our local journalism brings to the community, please consider making a recurring contribution to the Excelsior Citizen!
