This episode features Bevil Cohn, a volunteer from Historic Waco Foundation, as she speaks about a not-so-well known figure in Waco's history, Captain Joseph Daniel Bell. Bell needed water on his hilltop farm at the edge of town and was told by city officials that this would be impossible, given the location of his property. Bell didn't accept this answer and instead, drilled for more than a year before discovering the hot, artesian water, that bubbled and shot up to the surface like a geyser, as the illustration on the cover of the Waco Heritage and History depicts above. The publication is still produced by the Historic Waco Foundation to this day.
Because of the medicinal value of water, two natatoriums (bath houses) were built in town and people traveled from near and far to come here and bathe. Captain Bell would go on to drill 16 wells in the area that became known as "Bell's Hill"; there is still an elementary school there, named for him; Bevil served as the principal at the modern-day Bell's Hill School for many years, where he interest in Captain Bell first began. After the discovery of the well, Waco then became referred to as "Geyser City", because of all the wells - which seems to have faded away over time.
Bell's family farm was located where the St. Mark's Lutheran Church now stands at 2000 Clay St. Other key figures discussed during this episode include: Captain R.W. Lusk (of the historic Lusk-Clifton home), Sally's sister, known as "Muggie" & QZ Valentine. To hear more, please listen to the full episode here.
Bevil goes on to talk about her character role during the annual "Walking Tales" event at Oakwood Cemetery, where she portrays Captain Bell's wife, Sally, while donning a 1920's bathing suit. She tells visitors to the Bell Family cemetery plot, about his life and achievements and the impact Bell had on Waco's success as a growing city. The Walking Tales event at Oakwood this year, will be Saturday, October 19th.
The images included in this post, are referenced in the podcast and are meant to serve as a visual aid to accompany the episode. We would like to give a special thank you to Historic Waco Foundation, whom Revision Photo Restoration is proudly sponsored with, for allowing us the use of these images and content for the podcast and blog. For more information, please visit: www.historicwaco.org
Historic Waco Foundation manages multiple historic homes (museums) here in Waco, including the Earle-Knapier-Kinnard, East Terrace, McCulloch & Johnson-Taylor (Nell Pape Gardens) venue. Tours of the homes are available Wed-Sat, 10am-4pm.
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