The great spring that significantly increases the flow of the Niangua River attracted homesteaders in the 1830s. James and Ann Brice arrived from Illinois and purchased 400 acres and in 1837 constructed a watermill. Other pioneers settled nearby, and a community called Brice was created.
Another millwright, Peter Bennett, built a competing mill at the confluence of the spring branch and the Niangua. Somehow, Bennett’s name became attached to the spring which was then called Brice. Today, the Brice name is known only to historians and preserved in vintage photographs. The only relic of that early settlement is a frame church, which was protectively clad in stone in the 1950s.
Recreationalists have found the setting alluring since before the Civil War. In 1900 the Missouri Fish Commission released 40,000 mountain trout into the branch. Bennett Spring State Park became one of Missouri’s earliest state parks, when the spring and some surrounding land were purchased by the state for that purpose in 1924. Though evidence of its earliest settlement is scant, the park has numerous Arts and Crafts style stone structures, and several handsome bridges built during the Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
Twelve miles of hiking trails wind through the wild and rugged surrounding terrain. A hatchery raises both brown and rainbow trout for release. The dawn of opening day of trout season attracts hundreds of anglers, including, often, the current governor. It’s a Missouri tradition. It’s also a spectacle, covered extensively by media.
Vintage Images are provided by Leland and Crystal Payton at Lens & Pen Press, publishers of all-color books on the Ozarks. “See the Ozarks: The Touristic Image” showcases many of the primary tourist destinations across the Ozarks. It is available for $22.50 (10% off retail), postage paid.