In June, Missouri Conservation Corps joined the Greater Bonne Femme Watershed Initiative, Boone County Stormwater, Missouri State Parks, the Boone County Nature School, the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Daniel Boone Regional Library, and many other partners and organizations for Creek Week 2026. Taking place each year in late June, Creek Week is a week-long celebration of the Greater Bonne Femme watershed, and a chance for the community to become educated and engaged around the topics of water quality, watershed awareness, and protection of our aquatic resources in Boone County. As a part of Creek Week, Missouri Conservation Corps Project Director Stephen Bybee led participants on a Wells and Springs Tour of downtown Columbia.
On the evening of June 27th, people gathered on the pedestrian bridge of Flat Branch Park to learn more about Columbia’s beginnings, and how historic water resources influenced the city’s upbringing and growth. Stops on the tour included historic locations of wells, cisterns, springs, and Creekside industry in early Columbia, including the Gentry Well, the Emergency Well, the John B. Gordon Spring, the Rene Butel Bottling Works, and the historic and cherished Chalybeate Spring on MU Campus.
The tour meandered throughout downtown Columbia, stopping every couple blocks to discuss historic buildings, buried wells, and disappeared lakes. Bybee shared archival photos and maps, artifacts, and many points of mystery and intrigue as the group walked from site to site. In visiting these areas and their pasts, Bybee wove a narrative that showed how water resources, access, and usage shaped Columbia’s earliest industries and the city itself. Thank you to everyone who attended and shared their thoughts, questions, and curiosity.
For those who may have missed this tour or are interested in learning more, an extended version of this tour is being given by CoMO Preservation on Thursday, July 9th, 2026. For tickets and details, visit CoMO Preservation’s Springs and Wells of Early Columbia Tour page.
