With the revelations coming out of Roaring River these days, another door has been opened for the state park that will only add another attraction in luring more visitors to the facility that continues to lead Missouri’s park system in popularity.

Divers now tell us the park’s spring is the deepest on record in the United States with their journeys to the 472-foot depth still not at the bottom of the cavernous water source.

Kyle and Sheila Harris have done a top notch job of reporting on dives over the past two years in the columns of the Democrat and eventually catching the attention of those in Jefferson City.

Now it will behoove those in authority to make the most of this new attraction in the park.

In his book, “The First 150 Years” on that Cassville anniversary, Emory Melton wrote of the grist mills that were the main facility addressing the area’s needs. Those mills in the spring pond, operated on the cold waters of the spring without any knowledge of the depth of the water source.

Flowing often at over nine million gallons per day, the energy was adequate to handle the milling and carting needs for a wide region.

So, what better way to cover the history of the spring than to put a replica mill in the pond that now exists above the widely recognized twin falls.

While there would be no need for the mill to be operable, that too would only add to the authentic presentation of the attraction.

This project would be easier to acquire with today’s methods and equipment as history tells us early mills were built at Roaring River without the aid of drills, wooden pegs or other construction materials and equipment.

Even a simple replica could denote the location of the mill and observe and important fact in the spring’s early use.

Milling apparently began at the park in the spring in 1836, and continued until 1928, when soap manufacturer Thomas Sayman purchased 2,500 acres for $105,000 cash at the Barry County Court House steps.

Sayman apparently had no intention of operating the mill, making the purchase as his own recreation park. His ownership was short-lived as he and the former owner were in conflict concerning fish in the upper lake being mortgaged.

After a heated dispute, during which Mr. Bruner pulled a gun, Sayman, retreated to the courthouse and was locked in a vault until authorities arrived. Soon after, he hoped in his car, went to Jeff City and deeded “his” park to the State of Missouri.

One of the fishing attractions in the park in those days was the upper lake, which was located just above Dry Hollow. It was a log and earthen structure, forming a lake that reached upstream to about where the original hotel stands today.

A spring downpour that flooded Roaring River Hollow took out the structure in the 1930s, taking a number of vehicles owned by campers downstream with the torrent of water.

Blalack Motors was called upon to retrieve the vehicles at a downstream low-water bridge.

My dad worked for the auto firm at the time, so along with Orville Abernathy, wrecker operator, the two, took me along. It was quite an experience for a young boy.

The incident of those floods has continued throughout the years with better weather anticipation and communications able to handle warnings to people in the park during such weather happenings.

Modernization of the twin falls came with arrival of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in pre-World War II days. This and a number of trails, buildings, roads and other tourist features were accomplished by these crews.

When WWII came to the world, CCC members were the first to be integrated into the Army.

Camps at Roaring River and Shell Knob were never used by CCC again, rather their facilities were utilized by civilian and youth groups as camping and outdoor recreational programs. They are still available these days.

Apparently, there are more dives coming in an effort to find the full depth of the spring, as 12 divers are involved. In addition, rest areas at several depths have been installed as have guide ropes placed in the spring.

Regardless of what occurs in the future, Roaring River Spring has placed another factor of distinction for the Barry County Ozarks, one that will not be copied and probably will not be exceeded for a long time to come.

It will be interesting to see how firmly Cassville grasps this newly found feature.

Will those of authority take this happening and run with it, or will it simply become a ho-hum existence, a mere seven miles from downtown. The latter would be a shame, but not unusual.