Exhibit B: Ha-Ha (not to be confused with laughter)
"Here I will spend my leisure, secure from the worries of business and the excitement of city life. I will fish and loaf and explore the caves of these hills, with no fear of intrusion."
-- Robert McClure Snyder about the property he bought to build the Ha Ha Tonka Castle
I never did get to spend time loafing and fishing and exploring. I started building my lovely castle in the hills of the Ozarks in 1905. It was intended to be a breathtaking sight with wonderful views of the surrounding woods and springs. Three and a half stories tall with its very own water tower and stone carriage house. This was to be my place to relax and get away from my demanding life in the business world.
Unfortunately I was killed in an automobile accident in Kansas City, Mo in 1906. I have the distinction of dying in one of the state's first automobile accidents.
For sixteen years my lovely castle in the hills sat unfinished. My spirit wandered about the premises still dreaming of what I meant this place to be. I guess in some ways I did get to explore here with no intrusions. My sons Robert and Kenneth finally had the castle finished in 1922 and Robert lived there until his death.
A few years later there began to be issues with the family business and Kenneth leased the castle to a woman who turned it into a hotel. Of all things, a HOTEL! Strangers wandering my home. I was furious and disappointed in my son's decision. He should have lived there. The castle should have remained the home of our family. It was to have been my legacy.
In 1942, tragedy struck the castle once again when sparks from one of its many fireplaces ignited the roof. Within hours, my home was gutted as well as the carriage house. All that was left were the stark, devastated outside walls of the mansion and the nearby water tower.
Yet again, the my home was abandoned, sitting silently upon the cliff overlooking Ha Ha Tonka Spring and the Lake of the Ozarks for the next 36 years. Thirty six years in which no one cared for my home. Trees grew around it and vines began taking over what was left of the walls. It slowly became a spirit just like me. I watched as the last shreds of my dream were slowly destroyed by time and nature.
Later, in 1976 vandals set fire to the water tower and it too became a memory just like my everything else.
In 1978 the state of Missouri bought what remained of the castle and the springs and turned it all into a state park. Again strangers are wandering through my home and land. All I can do is sit and watch and hope that maybe one day my home will be restored to its original greatness.
Ha Ha Tonka is a real castle set in the hills of Camden County, Missouri. The name which was known by Native Americans in the area as "ha ha tonka" which supposedly means "laughing waters," alluding to the springs below the castle. My parents used to take me there when I was a kid and we'd spend the day swimming in the springs and walking the hiking paths. I would have been content in spending the day exploring the castle ruins but no one found them as interesting as I did. I credit Ha Ha Tonka for beginning my love of abandoned buildings. I thought of this magical and sad place as soon as I saw this prompt.
-- Robert McClure Snyder about the property he bought to build the Ha Ha Tonka Castle
I never did get to spend time loafing and fishing and exploring. I started building my lovely castle in the hills of the Ozarks in 1905. It was intended to be a breathtaking sight with wonderful views of the surrounding woods and springs. Three and a half stories tall with its very own water tower and stone carriage house. This was to be my place to relax and get away from my demanding life in the business world.
Unfortunately I was killed in an automobile accident in Kansas City, Mo in 1906. I have the distinction of dying in one of the state's first automobile accidents.
For sixteen years my lovely castle in the hills sat unfinished. My spirit wandered about the premises still dreaming of what I meant this place to be. I guess in some ways I did get to explore here with no intrusions. My sons Robert and Kenneth finally had the castle finished in 1922 and Robert lived there until his death.
A few years later there began to be issues with the family business and Kenneth leased the castle to a woman who turned it into a hotel. Of all things, a HOTEL! Strangers wandering my home. I was furious and disappointed in my son's decision. He should have lived there. The castle should have remained the home of our family. It was to have been my legacy.
In 1942, tragedy struck the castle once again when sparks from one of its many fireplaces ignited the roof. Within hours, my home was gutted as well as the carriage house. All that was left were the stark, devastated outside walls of the mansion and the nearby water tower.
Yet again, the my home was abandoned, sitting silently upon the cliff overlooking Ha Ha Tonka Spring and the Lake of the Ozarks for the next 36 years. Thirty six years in which no one cared for my home. Trees grew around it and vines began taking over what was left of the walls. It slowly became a spirit just like me. I watched as the last shreds of my dream were slowly destroyed by time and nature.
Later, in 1976 vandals set fire to the water tower and it too became a memory just like my everything else.
In 1978 the state of Missouri bought what remained of the castle and the springs and turned it all into a state park. Again strangers are wandering through my home and land. All I can do is sit and watch and hope that maybe one day my home will be restored to its original greatness.
Ha Ha Tonka is a real castle set in the hills of Camden County, Missouri. The name which was known by Native Americans in the area as "ha ha tonka" which supposedly means "laughing waters," alluding to the springs below the castle. My parents used to take me there when I was a kid and we'd spend the day swimming in the springs and walking the hiking paths. I would have been content in spending the day exploring the castle ruins but no one found them as interesting as I did. I credit Ha Ha Tonka for beginning my love of abandoned buildings. I thought of this magical and sad place as soon as I saw this prompt.