Episode 28: A Doctor Claimed the Springs Could Cure in This Lost Missouri Town

Historium Unearthia: Unearthing History's Lost and Untold Stories

Greene County, Missouri was once home to many bustling communities that slowly withered away. One town had quite an intriguing story. There it was said the springs could cure; that a bit of heaven had fallen to earth. A respected doctor even banked his future on the town’s medicinal wonders. Have you ever heard of the lost town of Bethesda?

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Credit:

A huge thanks to author and local Greene County historian Shirley Gilmore who wrote a little book called Bethesda: Lost City in 1970, when she was a senior in high school and as part of a Girl Scout project. The book is in the reference section of the Springfield-Greene County Library in Springfield, Missouri. I also grateful for the historical insight of John Sellars, the Executive Director of the History Museum on the Square, dedicated to revitalizing and preserving the history of the Springfield, Missouri community.

Sources:

Bethesda: Lost City; Gilmore, Shirley; Girl Scout Troop #15 (Springfield, Missouri); August 12, 1970.

A Directory of Towns, Villages, and Hamlets Past and Present of Greene County, Missouri; Moser, Arthur Paul; Springfield-Greene County Library; Retrieved December 2018.

Robberson Township, Ebeneezer, Hackney, Bethesda, Glidewell; Greene County 1904; Missouri Publishing Co.

Glen M. “Heinie” Siegel; Obituary; Newsok.com; January 10, 2001.

The Lost Town of Bethesda and More on Springfield's Cryptid History; Urban Cryptids; December 14, 2012.

The Mysterious Goat Man; Urban Cryptids; May 19, 2013.