Still Waters: Stories from The Elms Hotel & Spa Archive

Still Waters: Table of Contents

Step into the history of The Elms Hotel & Spa through letters, diary entries, guest recollections and stories inspired by the hotel’s archives. Each chapter reveals another voice, another moment and another secret carried through generations.

1. The Arrival

A child's letter, folded into family papers. Elsie Everhart is two days into a stay at The Elms in the summer of 1892, writing to her cousin Charlotte with the solemn precision of someone who has been trained to write properly and has not yet learned which details adults would prefer she leave out.

2. The Third Floor

A housekeeper's diary page from the third floor, written by a woman whose name is reduced in the file to one initial: A.

3. The Grand Season

Overview : A guest letter from The Elms at the height of its resort years. The writer has been here nearly two weeks, has taken the waters, and has become a believer.

4. The Waters Cure

Overview: The oldest document in the archive. The hotel does not exist yet. A woman has come to Excelsior Springs in 1882 with a child and a belief in the mineral waters.

5. After the Springs

Elsie's second letter, written from the same trip a few days later. Same cousin, same precision, same instinct for recording what adults consider unremarkable.

6. What Doris Saw

Doris's statement is careful because Doris is trying to stay employed.

She is nine months into the job, new enough to hedge every sentence. The details are exact anyway: a woman in the corridor who was not on the schedule, a vacant room remade overnight in a fold Doris had not been trained to make.

7. The Chicago Party

A party arrives from Chicago by train. The senior front-of-house manager records the arrangements: room assignment, dining instructions, access protocols. He is a man who notes what happened and does not say what it means.

Room 214 appears here for the first time.

8. The Inventory

A basement inventory filed in November 1924. Every item counted, every location noted, every quantity recorded.

Near the end, the system breaks. One entry by the east wall, below the lower step. No quantity. No explanation. Only a note in a different hand: do not move.

9. Harry Sends His Regards

A family letter from The Elms in the mid-1940s. The writer is taking the waters, reading in the garden, sending news home.

Harry has sent his regards. No surname. No title.

10. She Came With Her Child

This letter was never mailed. She has begun it twice before and torn both pages.

She has returned to The Elms, built near the waters she came to in 1882. She goes to the third floor. She stands outside a room at the end of the corridor for longer than she can account for.

11. The Lower Level

The Diarist's second entry in the Chicago party thread. The arrangements are settled. He is already writing less. Something happens in the lower level. He records that it was handled. He does not go below.

12. The Man at the Bar

A bartender covering a shift in the lower room, written down years later. He knew the arrangement. He knew not to ask questions.

He writes the honest version. It moves fast. Then it goes quiet.

13. The Party

A letter written ten years after the October 30, 1910 fire, by someone who was on the floor that night. She writes it every year on the same date.

It begins with the orchestra and three hundred place settings. It does not end there.

14. What the Pool Remembers

15. Mr. C

The Diarist's third entry. The Chicago party is now routine. No arrival note needed. Room 214 is assumed. The staff already know.

The entry is shorter than the last one.

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16. The Corridor

A 1953 incident report filed by the assistant manager. A guest saw a woman in the third-floor corridor at 2 a.m. A housekeeper was asked for a statement and declined to give one in writing.

In Room 314, on the windowsill: one child's shoe, left foot.

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The Corridor

October 23, 2026 Assistant manager

Historical

Vintage black-and-white hotel corridor with a mysterious woman standing at the far end near Room 316

Era: 1950-1966

Overview

A 1953 incident report filed by the assistant manager. A guest saw a woman in the third-floor corridor at 2 a.m. A housekeeper was asked for a statement and declined to give one in writing.

In Room 314, on the windowsill: one child's shoe, left foot.

Vintage typewritten incident report on aged paper, featuring an official signature and manila folder.

INCIDENT REPORT

The Elms Hotel, Excelsior Springs

Date of report: March 12, 1953

Submitted by: R. Albright, Assistant Manager

RE: Guest report — third-floor corridor, night of March 11–12, 1953

At approximately 7:45 a.m. on March 12, a guest in Room 316 approached the front desk to report an incident observed during the previous night. The guest, a Mr. T. Hartwell of Springfield, Illinois, stated that he had been unable to sleep and had gone to the corridor to take water from the hallstand at approximately 2 a.m. At that time he observed a woman standing at the far end of the third-floor corridor, near Room 314, facing the window. He estimated she had been there for some minutes before he noticed her. He called out softly, so as not to disturb other guests, and she did not respond. He returned to his room. When he looked again from his doorway a short time later, the corridor was empty.

Mr. Hartwell's description: a woman in dark clothing, slight in build, standing still. He could not see her face. She appeared to be looking at something on the windowsill or near the window frame. He could not say what.

The night porter's log for March 11–12 records no unusual activity on the third floor. The log shows standard rounds at 1:45 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. The third floor is noted as quiet on both occasions.

Following Mr. Hartwell's report, I spoke with the housekeeping staff assigned to the third floor. Mrs. V. Tanner provided a verbal account consistent in some particulars with the guest's report. She stated that she had observed something similar on the third floor on a prior occasion and did not wish to elaborate in writing. She declined to provide a written statement. I have noted her verbal account here in summary only: she had seen a woman in the corridor who, when she turned to address her directly, was not there. She did not indicate a date for this prior observation.

On inspection of Room 314, I found the room unoccupied and in order. The bed had not been slept in. The room had been prepared for occupancy and was listed as available.

At the windowsill of Room 314, I found one child's shoe. Left foot. I have documented it in the room inventory and set it aside pending any guest claim.

No claim has been made as of this report's filing.

No further action.

R. Albright

Assistant Manager, The Elms Hotel

March 12, 1953

Still Waters is a narrative series inspired by the history of The Elms Hotel & Spa in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. Each story blends documented history, local lore, and original storytelling. While many places, people, and events are rooted in the historical record, the letters, journals, conversations, and personal accounts are works of historical fiction created to bring the past to life.

Some imagery featured throughout the series is created or enhanced using artificial intelligence as a visual storytelling tool. These images are intended to help interpret a time, place, or atmosphere when authentic historical photography is unavailable and should not be viewed as archival photographs or representations of documented historical events.

Our goal is not to recreate history exactly as it happened, but to honor the people, places, and moments that shaped The Elms and the community surrounding it through stories that could have been told by those who lived them.

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