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Health in the Heartland
The Mineral Springs in Burlington Junction, Missouri were founded by a man named Samuel Corken. Samuel Corken opened it up as a hotel to help illnesses in pubic in 1881. Samuel had the springs open for only a year before he sold it to a man named Dr. S. Black. Dr. Black and his associate Dr. James Evans decided to open it as a mineral springs sanitarium. This could have been in hopes to draw more people in as a more professional center for health treatment.
Eventually, the Corken family bought the sanitarium from Black. Elmer, Samuel's son, was the person who bought it back. He expanded the sanitarium to accommodate more patients and to make it more leisurely for the people staying there.
Mineral Springs Sanitarium in Burlington Junction, circa 1910
Eventually, the Corken family bought the sanitarium from Black. Elmer, Samuel's son, was the person who bought it back. He expanded the sanitarium to accommodate more patients and to make it more leisurely for the people staying there.
He added a bottling plant/bathhouse near the springs to help make more money for the Sanitarium. The water that he bottled was called Nek-Roc. This was Corken spelled backwards. This water was sold all over Missouri and Iowa. He had advertisements in newpapers and health journals in Chicago for Nek-Roc. One of the ads stated: "Drink Nek-Roc and keep well." In spite of the early success of Nek-Roc, the quality of the water declined over time. Tests were done on the water to test its quality. Decomposing organic materials along with fecal matter were found in the water. The decline of the sanitarium itself was also evident and in 1820 the sanitarium burnt to the ground. The sanitarium has not been rebuilt. Old cedars still mark the entrance to where the sanitarium stood.
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