Hot Springs National Park

This year Hot Springs NP is celebrating 100 years as a national parks because it was established as a national park in 1921.  However, local historians of the park say it was established in 1832 when the federal government first set the land aside as Hot Springs Reservation.  The national park system did not exist at that time and when it was established, Yellowstone would be the first official national park. It was set aside to protect the water for public use.  Early communities who sought to ease their pain in the thermal waters  built cabins around the spring.  In 1876, the US Supreme Court affirmed the nation's interest in making the thermal water available to all  The government began regulating private bathhouses and took active control over improvements that led to better sanitation and distribution of the water.  There were eight original bathhouses with only two still functioning as a bathhouse.

 

Lamar built in 1923 had marble bathtubs of different lengths for greater comfort.  Today it is the National Park Service Store.

Buckstaff was built in 1912 and has continued to operate as a bathhouse for over a century.  

Ozark was built in 1922.  It contains sculpted mythical  creatures which hold urns of water.

Quapaw was built in 1922.  It has a tiled dome and an American Indian motif.  This one is my favorite.

Fordyce is home to the visitor's center and all floors and the basement is open to visitors.  Many of the rooms are restored to their original state.  Several pictures below were taken inside the Fordyce.

This stained glass was hung above a room where the men met to relax.  During the time these buildings, men and women had separate facilities.  The only part of the bathhouse they were together was the lounge.

Examples of clothes worn by men and women during their visit at bathhouse.

A close-up of one of the curved glasses in the lounge.

It had several stained glass windows like this one.  

Steam cabinets.

This portrays Hermando de Sota who discovered the springs in 1541.

Above and below are pictures of the springs the Fordyce used in its bathhouse.

Original tiled floors.

Stained glass ceilings in the third floor lounge.

Maurice was built in 1912.  The third floor lounge has a stone fireplace and many painted murals.

Hale was built in 1892 and is the oldest surviving bathhouse.

Superior was built in 1916 and is the smallest.  It offered affordable hydrotherapy and massages.   It now contains a craft beer brewery that uses water from the springs in its beer.

This is the Ohio Club.  Major league players enjoyed coming to the Ohio Club and gambling during training trips to Hot Springs.  Al Capone and other well-known gangsters also frequented Hot Springs and the Ohio Club. 

Carol happened to run into Al Capone.  It looks like Al isn't going anywhere.

A couple of the buildings had nice mural on them.

We ate lunch at Fat Jacks.  Carol had fish and I had chicken.  Both were very good.

The Arlington Hotel was built in 1921 and has hosted such baseball notables as Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio.  It has 300 rooms.  It looked to us like it was being renovated and repurposed to contain mini boutique shops.

This monument is to honor the first US Park Ranger to die in line of service.  James Alexander Cary was killed by bootleggers while patrolling on West Mountain in Hot Springs National Park.

There are water fountains like this all around the city for people to fill jugs and bottles with water from the hot springs.  We bought a gallon container at the park service store and filled it with water.  Two hours later the water is still hot.

The last thing we did today before going back to camp was drive up Hot Springs Mountain to a tower 216 feet tall.  You can either climb the stairs or take an elevator to the top.  We chose the elevator.  From the top you could see a 360 degree view of Hot Springs and the area   The above picture is of the Arlington Hotel.  You can see how big it really is.   The picture below is of the mountain side.  It shows very little leaf changes.

We made it back to camp around 3.  We will be relaxing the rest of the evening.  The next two days we will be driving.  Today was the last day of sightseeing on this trip.  We have seen so many varied sights...mountains, high desert, cities, historical places, rural roads, swamp, and lakes.   We are about 600 miles from home and will drive it in two days.