Mineral Wells, Texas 1881. Copyright by A.F. Weaver. This is the earliest picture of Mineral Wells available. It was mailed to A.F. Weaver by a woman in Colorado in 2004 who found it in her great-grandfather's belongings. We was a world traveler and spent only a short time in Mineral Wells. The photo was obtained too late to include in the last edition (the mini edition) of Time Was. James Alvis Lynch and his family arrived in Millsap Valley Dec. 24, 1877. In 1878 he dug a well to 41 ft., but it was dry. In 1880 he contracted to have a well drilled, and it encountered mineral water. The purported healing qualities of the water brought health seekers by the thousands. In 1881, Lynch laid off the city of Mineral Wells on his 80 acre farm. The unidentified lines of white objects in the upper background are a mystery, maybe a fence, markers, bee hives or something else.

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