In the middle of a state park in Camdenton, Missouri–amidst sinkholes, bluffs, caves, a natural bridge, and overlooking sunlit ripples of the Lake of the Ozarks–sits a turn-of-the-century castle with a history similar to other American castles I’ve been exploring this summer.
Although I haven’t visited this one, it’s only a couple of hours from my home, so it’s on my bucket list of ruins to visit.
The site also included a several-story watertower, which housed the caretaker and his family, and a stable. Stairs on one side of the valley lead down to the natural spring. You can see all this on the two YouTube links at the end. One is drone footage that shows off the area’s beauty.
The story is becoming familiar. In the closing years of the Gilded Age, a rich businessman wanted to build a castle imitating those across the sea in Europe. In this case, the man was Robert Snyder from Kansas City. He began construction in 1905, even bringing in stone masons from Europe to get it right.
Tragically, Snyder was killed in one of Missouri’s first automobile accidents. His sons continued the work until the castle was completed in the early 1920s. One of the sons moved in until land rights lawsuits over the property plunged the family into financial trouble. Depressed and poverty stricken, the son left the estate, which was turned into a hotel and lodge. In 1942, fire destroyed the house. It seems many of these historic castles saw their share of fires that ravaged their previous grandeur.
The state of Missouri purchased the property in the 1970s and turned it into a site-seeing feature of the Ha Ha Tonka State Park to keep its story alive. The park itself sounds fascinating, and old castle ruins to boot? It’s on my list. #therestofyourstory
YouTube drone video (2:44 mins)
YouTube tour (12 mins)
Featured photo also courtesy of Wikipedia.