Hot Springs National Park

“When William Dunbar and George Hunter explored the nation’s new territories in 1804, they found several crude huts near a steaming spring in the Ouachita Mountains. Their guides explained that people came to the area to soak in the hot water and recover their health.” – National Park Service (NPS)

“The promise of improved health drew Civil War veterans and others with disabling conditions to crowded camps near the open springs. They formed temporary communities of people who south to ease their pain in the thermal waters” – NPS

“By the 1900s, Hot Springs was among the most visited health and wellness resorts in the United States. Entrepreneurs promoted it as a place “where crutches are thrown away.” Since 1921 the springs and historic bathhouses have formed the heart of a national park.” – NPS

“The Bathhouse Row you see today consists of eight bathhouse buildings that were constructed between the years of 1892 and 1923. This area along with the Grand Promenade was designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 1987.” – NPS

There is a city parking garage in the middle of town, across from Bathhouse Row. It is one of the prettiest parking garages we’ve ever seen.

We started at the south end of the Row and took our time admiring the buildings and learning about their history. Sadly, when we were here in October 2021 many of the buildings/tours were still closed due to Covid 19.

Lamar Bathhouse is the first bathhouse along the row. The National Park Service has done a nice job of providing information about each building with prominent signs in front of each building.

“The current Lamar Bathhouse opened on April 16, 1923 replacing a wooden Victorian structure named in honor of the former U. S. Supreme Court Justice Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar. He was Secretary of the Interior when the first version of the bathhouse was built in 1888.” – NPS

“The Lamar was unique in that it offered a range of tub lengths (5′, 5′ 6″, 5′ 9″, 6′, 6′ 6″) for people of various heights. It also had a small coed gymnasium with another separate area for women adjacent to the gymnasium. The Lamar Bathhouse closed on November 30, 1985.” – NPS

Today, there is a park store on the first floor.

The second of the eight bathhouses is Buckstaff Bathhouse.

“The Buckstaff is the only bathhouse that (still) offers a traditional bathing experience and has been in continuous operation since opening its doors in 1912. Visit the Buckstaff Baths website to find out about taking a bath.” – NPS

“…the Ozark was more impressive in its exterior facade than in its interior appointments, with only 14,000 square feet and twenty-seven tubs. It catered to a middle economic class of bathers unwilling to pay for frills.” – NPS

“Today, the Ozark houses the Hot Springs National Park Cultural Center. The Center features gallery spaces for displaying artwork from the park’s Artist-in-Residence Program and other temporary exhibitions.” – NPS

“The Quapaw Bathhouse opened in 1922. It is the longest building on Bathhouse Row, occupying the site of two previous bathhouses, the Horseshoe and Magnesia…The Quapaw Bathhouse is one of two locations where visitors can soak in the thermal springs.” – NPS

The Fordyce Bathhouse is in the middle of Bathhouse Row. It houses the Visitor Center for Hot Springs National Park.

“Totaling approximately 28,000 square feet, the Fordyce is the largest bathhouse on the Row. It has three main floors, two courtyards, and a basement under most of the building.” – NPS

“The present building opened for business on January 1, 1912. With a total floor space of 23,000 square feet, the three-story bathhouse had ample room for a complete range of services and amenities, including a gymnasium, staterooms, a roof garden, twin elevators, and in the 1930s a therapeutic pool, situated in the basement. It was the only bathhouse on the Row to have a pool.” – NPS

“The Maurice Bathhouse is vacant today and remains available for commercial leasing.” – NPS

“Named for early bathhouse owner John Hale, the present Hale Bathhouse is at least the fourth building to use this name.

“The present Hale Bathhouse is the oldest visible structure on Bathhouse Row. Most of the present structure was completed in 1892” – NPS

The last building on Bathhouse Row is the Superior Bathhouse.

“The smallest bathhouse on the Row, the Superior also had the lowest rates; it offered only the basic hydrotherapy, mercury, and massage services.” – NPS

“The Superior Bathhouse is now home to the only brewery in a United States National Park, and the only brewery in the world to utilize thermal spring water to make their beer.”

The hot springs are part of the historic Baseball Trail – who knew?

Sadly, Hot Springs National Park is also the site where the first National Park Service Ranter was murdered in the line of duty.

Behind Bathhouse Row is the Grand Promenade. It is a 30 minute walk from one end to the other.

Behind the Forcyth Bathhouse you can see the remains of The Bandstand. A place used by the military band from the nearby Army and Navy General Hospital to perform concerts “…so visitors on the nearby streets and trails could enjoy the music as it wafted over the hillsides.” (NPS)

Several feet beneath the Grand Promenade lies a series of pipes that collect water from the hot springs. Along the way you can see green boxes which surround individual springs and protect their quality. These green boxes also connect the springs to the network of pipes for collection.

“Tufa is a rock made of more recent (geologically speaking) mineral deposits of calcium, carbon, and oxygen left behind by the hot springs. When the Grand Promenade was built, many tufa deposits were removed from this area.” – NPS

Hot Springs was briefly the site of the State Capitol of Arkansas. The sign below reads: “July 2-14-1862 when federal troops advanced on Little Rock, Governor Henry Massie Rector moved his staff and the state records here.”

Bathhouse Row is surrounded by Hot Springs Mountain, which has a mountain tower and over a dozen hiking trails from easy to strenuous. We took a drive up to the mountain tower overlook.

We stayed at a nearby KOA campground. It was a bit crowded but the people running the campground were very nice.

During our morning walk we passed by a house with a bathtub out front. We find it interesting how this makes perfect sense here. What an eclectic country we live in.

Until next time.