It's official: Mineral Wells is the Wellness Capital of Texas

Texas Rep. Glenn Rogers, R-Graford, Mineral Wells Mayor Regan Johnson and Rose Jordan, director of marketing and tourism for the Mineral Wells Area Chamber of Commerce, smile next to Rogers’ bill that Gov. Greg Abbott and legislative leaders signed designating the city The Wellness Capital of Texas.
Courtesy | Gary Norman

Weatherford Democrat
By Glenn Evans, gevans@weatherforddemocrat.com
June 26, 2023

MINERAL WELLS — Well, it’s about time.

Mineral Wells welcomed the official arrival on Friday of its designation by the Texas Legislature as the Wellness Capital of Texas.

Gov. Greg Abbott signed the joint House/Senate resolution on June 18 deepening Mineral Wells’ niche as a healthy place to live and visit.

“Mineral Wells — there’s no better place,” GOP Rep. Glenn Rogers, author of the bill, told some 60 Crazy Town community members beneath the four-story skylights in the bright Crazy Water Hotel Pavilion.

“We serve everyone that comes in our office Crazy Water,” Rogers said, citing the underground elixir that is the foundation of the city’s perch on wellness. “And they know about Mineral Wells.”

City supporters found cards on their seats depicting a dandelion with a Lone Star center. The city logo symbolizes the resilience and rejuvenation displayed in features such as the reborn hotel around them.

Elements of the city’s wellness character bubble up from the mineral rich water, believed to be therapeutic for drinking or bathing.

They include more than 30 miles of hiking/biking trails through what locals call the northern gate to the Texas Hill Country.

Clark Gardens Botanical Park, four lakes and three state parks, Mineral Wells Fossil Park, a community based farmer’s market and the Brazos River help ensure people are likely to leave Mineral Wells healthier than they arrived.

Although Rogers is not from Mineral Wells, he said his great-great-grandparents, Tank and Lula Holt, had a hotel and a hardware store in Crazy Town during the era when Classic Era Hollywood stars arrived for the city’s first splash as a wellness destination.

Rogers filed House Concurrent Resolution 4 on the first day lawmakers could file bills, about six weeks before their session started in Austin.

“I’m so happy to have a small part in the great things that are going on in Mineral Wells,” he told the crowd.

Mayor Regan Johnson, who testified before a House committee weighing the bill, told the group the next job is to “champion” the city’s designation.

“This now is official,” she said. “So, welcome to the Wellness Capital of Texas.”

The mayor later said the motto is a tool in the city’s economic toolbox.

“It’s one more thing we can use, when working with our Parks and Rec Department, the airport, for economic development,” she said. “And it’s a recruiting tool, for quality of life in Mineral Wells.”

Rogers also said Johnson and others who went to Austin to bat for the bill can take the credit for it not being watered down to, say, Wellness Capital of North Central Texas.

“I think Mineral Wells did such a good job with (testifying to) the mineral water and the history,” he said. “We did not have any opposition that I’m aware of.”

Rose Jordan, director of tourism and marketing for the Mineral Wells Area Chamber of Commerce, had opened the celebration looking ahead.

“And we are just getting started,” she said.