ILLUSTRATED CIRCULAR OF THE OAKLAND, OPEN THE YEAR ROUND.

ILLUSTRATED CIRCULAR OF THE OAKLAND, OPEN THE YEAR ROUND. St. Clair, Michigan. Pub. By the St. Clair Mineral Springs Co. (Limited) 1882. 82 pgs. 4 pg. Appendiz. 16 engraved plates with rear folding map titled BIRDS EYE VIEW OF THE RAIL AND WALTER ROUTES TO CELEBRATED MINERAL SPRING AT ST. CLAIR, MICHIGAN.

Contents include chapters on the General Advantages of bathing; Historical Information; Bath Treatment; St. Clair Mineral Water and Baths; The Hotel; mRecreations andAmusements; Other advantages and Concluding testimonies as to pleasurable experiences of the Bath – parting invitation to the reader.

Established by the Hopkins family in 1881 on the St. Clair River, the hotel boasted its own steamship dock, several boathouses, and steam-powered cooking ranges. It employed “colored waiters,” had several cottages available for short and long term rental, and offered two hydraulic elevators for its guests. Among the tallest wooden structures in the United States, the hotel hosted over a 1,000 guests in over 100 rooms within its first few weeks of operation. Together with its luxurious interior and guest rooms (each complete with a then-uncommon personal closet), perhaps the most appealing attraction of the Oakland House was its convenient access to the St. Clair Mineral Spring, available to visitors via a bathhouse adjoining the southern end of the hotel. Thirty-five bathtubs were supplied with Mineral Spring water, which had recently been adapted “as a medicinal agent…and…has wrought some remarkable cures, and has succeeded in…ameliorating numerous stubborn and chronic cases.” Among the afflictions it is said to have cured were “Neuralgia, Sciatica, Paralysis, Gout, Muscular Contractions…all Diseases of the Skin…Loss of Appetite…Diabetes…Bronchitis…Consumption,” and more. Interest in mineral baths began to wane by the turn of the century, and the Oakland closed in 1911, and was torn down by 1920.

Expected minor wear, overall in vg cond.