Lucy Wortham James knew that Maramec Spring was special. So special that, in a way, she gave it to all of us. Nearly 90 years after the Missouri benefactor died, Maramec Spring Park near St. James, Missouri, still offers a scenic reminder of the region’s natural beauty and history.
Long before Mrs. Wortham James acquired the property, her ancestors launched Maramec Iron Works. Founded in 1826, the mid-Missouri operation was where the iron-rich mineral hematite was mined and processed.
"We actually ended up becoming the most successful and largest iron furnace in Missouri and west of the Mississippi at that time period," said Kendra Swee, the park’s interpretive services coordinator.
Before the iron works began, she said Osage Native Americans used the hematite for paint and other purposes. As White settlers moved west, Thomas James and Samuel Massey visited the property and realized the hematite’s iron quality was good. Maramec Iron Works was bor, and initially provided iron for local needs.
"You had many people moving to Missouri," Swee said. "You had many settlers. You didn't have a lot of towns. So, the iron works was making hollowwares, like kettles, frying pans, things that you needed around the farm and around the house."
At its height, the iron works employed nearly 300 people. It should be noted that part of the workforce included enslaved individuals. Swee said those people were leased for the more grueling tasks – like mining the hematite before it was put into the furnace.
"The furnace was a blast furnace, so they were pumping air into the side," Swee said. "So you're getting that oxygen, so it burns faster and hotter. It would just melt the rocks — kind of like the inside of a volcano."
After the Civil War, railroad expansion and rising competition put Maramec Iron Works out of business in the 1870s, and much of the property was sold. Its impact wasn’t finished, though. One example is through a Senator Evans and what we know today as Missouri S&T, the technology-focused university in Rolla. Originally, Swee said, it was supposed to be located in Columbia alongside the flagship University of Missouri campus.
"He was our senator for this area, and he was actually a carpenter here at Maramec Iron Works before he became a senator and had very strong ties to the iron industry," Swee said. "He went out on the floor at the legislature and did a big talk and said it was kind of silly that we would put both those universities in the same county when the iron industry is here, and it needed to be in Rolla."
The story continues to today through Lucy Wortham James. She was born in St. James in 1880, so she didn’t see the ironworks in operation. But its heyday was a vivid memory in her ancestors’ minds, and those stories helped create understanding of the land’s significance.
This became especially important later when she was taken in by her great-uncle, Robert Graham Dun — as in the Dun in Dun & Bradstreet, a major business reporting firm. He helped give Mrs. Wortham James privilege and opportunity in life.
"When he passed away, he left his fortune to her," Swee said. "She became one of the stakeholders for...what is now Dun & Bradstreet, but the R.G. Dun Company. She used that money to buy out the rest of her family to own this property."
Mrs. Wortham James married Huntington Wilson who served as the United States assistant secretary of state from 1909 to 1913. The marriage ended in divorce and a restoration of her maiden name. The single wealthy socialite spent time in homes on the east coast as well as St. James, using her time and resources for many causes, local to national, that were important to her.
"She was far ahead of her time in a lot of aspects of her philanthropy," Swee said. "She was definitely a person who felt that her money should be donated and used for causes.
"One of them was, you know, keeping the property here, but she also donated...to the building of the first women's clip clinic at Johns Hopkins University Hospital."
Mrs. Wortham James died in 1938. Her estate greatly supported St. James, especially public projects, and led to Maramec Spring Park as we know it today. Due to her influence, it uses the land’s original spelling, which began with Ma not Me.
Today, for a small fee per vehicle, visitors can intersect with that history and other experiences, like fishing.
And the story isn’t done yet. Like others who have made a difference, Maramec Spring Park’s legacy lives on through people like Swee and her husband Wes who lead it today. The couple was recently named Conservationist of the Year by the Conservation Federation of Missouri for their work with the park.
"They're here to enjoy the spring and the park itself," Swee said. "So that's kind of been our big push over the last few years is, you know, making it accessible for everybody and giving everybody something that they may want to do while they're here and just letting people know about this kind of, this little hidden gem in the Ozarks."
