Sublunar Photography

The Welch Spring Hospital was constructed above a natural cave in the early 20th Century on the banks of the Current River in Shannon County, Missouri. The site was chosen for its spring and cave whose clean water and fresh air was found to be effective in reducing symptoms in persons afflicted by "respiratory maladies" which included hay fever, head colds, asthma, emphysema and tuberculosis. It was operated here as a health resort sometime after being purchased by Dr. C. H. Diehl in 1913 until his death in 1940.

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Christian Herman Diehl was born on December 9, 1879 in Montrose, Illinois. His parents were German immigrants who had settled in Illinois and of their nine children, only 5 survived past infancy. Dr Diehl attended school until he was seventeen, eventually working for the Illinois Southern Hospital after which he attended classes at what would later become Southeast Missouri State University. Afterwards, he enrolled at Austin College in Effingham, Illinois where he earned his Bachelor of Science. Following that, he went on to complete a 4-year course at the now defunct Saint Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons from which he graduated on July 15, 1908 and subsequently gained membership into the American Medical Association. Prior to graduation, he took an examination in "Indian Territory" in Oklahoma and upon graduating he gained experience through an internship at Jefferson Hospital in Saint Louis. He successfully completed both the Missouri State Medical Examination and the Illinois State Board examination. Dr. Diehl specialized in Public health and by 1910, he was listed at 323 S 4th Street in Effingham, Illinois, where he "built up a large and lucrative practice and has handled some very discouraging cases with complete success. He has his own laboratory and compounds his own medicines. He keeps thoroughly abreast of the times and is identified with medical organizations." During his time as a student, he was married, on October 6, 1907, to Jennie Deichmann who was also a student of Austin College. He was later elected to positions within the Effingham County Medical Society and was the District Health Officer.

Dr. Diehl suffered from hay fever and at some point he discovered that after going into the Welch Cave that his own symptoms were relieved and "the same results were obtained in the case of head colds and other respiratory maladies". It's not clear what Diehl was doing so far from home, considering that Welch Spring in Missouri is 4 hours from Effingham Illinois (by car) and at the time such a trip was much more difficult and took longer than it does today especially if one was traveling by horse.

The Welch Spring and Cave were named after the owner of the site whose name was, interestingly, Current River Welch. According to Mr Welch's granddaughter, Dr Diehl was spotted across the river when the owner's sons James and Arnold Welch had led a team of horses to the spring for water. Dr Diehl reportedly called out to them "Who owns this land and is it for sale? My name is Dr. Diehl." Subsequently, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported, on December 27, 1913, that "Dr Christian H. Diehl has purchased the farm on which the Shannon County Cave is located".

Aside from the aforementioned fact that this cave and spring is located such a long distance from his home and established practice, it's also not clear whether he had permission to enter the cave prior to offering to buy it. It seems unlikely that he (or anyone) would have made an offer had they not first discovered it-along with the subsequent relief of symptoms it provided. Was he initially trespassing into the cave and happened upon the owners when the reported story of their introduction had occurred? Additional details lost to time include the official start date of the enterprise; The Missouri State Medical Association reported in 1937 that Dr Diehl had been "carrying on some research for the last two years" at this cave. It is also reported that Diehl died in 1940 at age 61. If these dates are accurate then his medical retreat would have only been operational for 5 years, despite his having owned the site for a total of 27 years.

At some point during his ownership, in addition to building this "hospital", Dr Diehl had a road constructed from the top of the hill down to the site along which were cabins for the workers he employed. He also had a lodge store built near the entrance along with a dam constructed across the spring. This road still exists although it is now gated off and marked NPS access only, and nothing remains of any of the other buildings but a few foundations scattered in the woods. The hospital building is itself now all but ruins itself; four walls with no roof form a perimeter around the cave entrance. Contained within the walls, aside from overgrowth, a staircase leads down to a small passage in which were built what appear to be a couple of concrete beds whereupon, one assumes, patients had once rested. Beyond them, a stone doorway serves as the entrance to a small subterranean chamber which is mostly flooded but which retains its natural cave features and presumably the same fresh air which originally brought Dr Diehl and subsequently his patients, relief from their respiratory ailments.

The site was abandoned upon the doctor's death in 1940 and after deteriorating for the last 80 years it is currently barred up and off-limits as part of the National Park Service.

The accessible portion of cave from inside the building is only one small room and is perpetually flooded. I do not recommend anyone try going here because it's not worth potentially damaging the site when the photos I've included below show everything there is to be seen.

Sources: (1) American Medical Directory 7th edition 1921; (2) Journal of the American Medical Association December 27 1913; (3) Illinois Medical Blue Book 1922; (4) Illinois Historical Effingham County Biographical 1910; (5) Missouri State Medical Association volume 34 1937; (6) Salem News Online

Historic Photos of Welch Spring Hospital

End Historic Photos

The Gulf Oil Pumping Station was constructed here in 1931 as part of a crude oil pipeline that stretched from Texas up to the North East.

This facility employed seven full time employees ranging from engineers to telegraph operators. The engineers were responsible for monitoring the oil levels and pressure and maintaining the several large 50 ton, 3-cylinder Diesel engines that powered the pump station. These engines were approximately 12 feet tall and used some of the same oil that they pumped through the lines.

There are three large storage tanks on site to store the oil which came through the lines. These tanks were built with a moat around them in the event of a spill so as to minimize damage to the surrounding area.

This facility operated well into the 60's and was shut down in the late 60's or early 70's. It has been abandoned since. Anyone who gets close to the tanks can still detect the smell of the oil they once contained. Unfortunately, nothing remains of the large engines, nor the station itself except a twisted steel frame and the crumbling brick walls.

I have not been able to determine with certainty was this place was originally. I suspect it was an incinerator, based on the large hoppers and dual stacks (as compared to another known Incinerator). But this is a guess. Currently, and as it seems to have been the case for the past several years, it was used a rubber scrap facility. Property databases generically refer to it as "Former Industrial Site".