A Centennial Celebration

The park that’s been in hot water for 100 years

By Anne P. Braly

Hot Springs Reservation became Hot Springs National Park in 1921, but much happened before and after to make it one of the most interesting national parks in the country. Most national parks cover thousands of acres and are located amongst forests filled with wildlife, old-growth trees, and other non-commercial features. Not so for Hot Springs, now celebrating its 100th birthday as a national park. The park is small by national park standards. For example, Big Bend in South Texas is 801,163 acres, compared to Hot Springs, which is 5,550 acres. But what sets Hot Springs apart from other parks is the fact that the town of Hot Springs, Arkansas, grew up around it as Americans came in droves to take advantage of the mineralrich waters that flow down the hills from the springs on mountains surrounding the city.

Congress created Hot Springs Reservation in 1832 to preserve the thermal water for the use and benefit of the people of the United States. This was years before the Department of the Interior came to be and long before the National Park Service was even a twinkle in the nation’s eye, says Tom Hill, curator of the Hot Springs National Park Museum.

“That was 40 years before the creation of the world’s first national park at Yellowstone,” Hill says. “In fact, that same year, 1832, was the first time that the words ‘a nation’s park’ entered the country’s lexicon in an effort to preserve the flora and fauna of the rapidly expanding nation. Thus, Hot Springs Reservation was created while the country was just starting to grapple with the emerging realization of dwindling or disappearing resources. We were a nation’s park before there was such a thing.”

The park’s museum, located in the visitor center, houses more than 760,000 objects, including plant and insect specimens, archeological artifacts, architectural elements from historic structures, personal memorabilia, photographs, technical drawings and more. And visitors can find all of these things within the borders of the park.

One of the most interesting items is a 15th century Spanish halberd discovered in the White River in the 1920s. John Fordyce, owner of the Fordyce Bathhouse on Bathhouse Row — newly restored and now housing the park’s visitor center — purchased the weapon back in the 1930s.

“This item has been studied by archeologists and historians, and the consensus is that it must date to the 1541-1543 time period when De Soto was moving around in what would later become Arkansas,” Hill notes.

Centuries later, Americans came to soak in the warm water pools looking for a cure-all for whatever ailed them. Some stayed and established bathhouses and supporting businesses, and the city grew up around them. The amount of visitors to the springs began to diminish in the 1950s as modern medicines developed. By 1985, only the Buckstaff Bathhouse remained open — and it still is. It’s been in continuous operation since 1912.

But that turn of events wasn’t the end of Bathhouse Row. The Park Service has restored and repurposed most of the buildings, from Superior Bathhouse — now a brewery making the world’s only thermal water beer — to the old Hale Bathhouse, which is now a luxury hotel. Quapaw is now a modern spa, and the Ozark has become a cultural center and art gallery. The park’s shining star is the Fordyce Bathhouse, an ornate Renaissance Revival structure from 1915 that’s now home to the national park’s visitor center and museum.

According to National Park Service visitation stats, Hot Springs National Park averages about 1.5 million visitors a year who come to relax in one of the bathhouse spas or hike to the Mountain Tower and ride the glass elevator to the top for views of the city and surrounding mountains.

A Look Back

1832
President Andrew Jackson signed into law on April 20 the Congressional Act setting aside the hot springs and their environs as a U.S. government reservation.

1803
The hot springs formally became the property of the United States when the Treaty of Paris of April 30 conveyed ownership of lands in the Louisiana Territory to the U.S., which, at that time, was just 28 years old.

1862
In May, during the Civil War, Hot Springs briefly became the Arkansas state capital when Gov. Henry Rector moved state records and staff there, fearing federal troops were on their way to Little Rock.

1877
The first Hot Springs Reservation superintendent, Benjamin Franklin Kelly, arrived in Hot Springs.

1884
The project to build a creek arch over Hot Springs Creek saw completion under the supervision of Hot Springs Reservation Superintendent Samuel Hamblen.

1887
The first Army and Navy General Hospital opened on Jan. 17.

1915
A bathhouse regimen cost around 55 cents, the average daily pay of most American workers.

1921
Hot Springs Reservation became Hot Springs National Park on March 4.

1924
The Arlington Hotel opened, featuring thermal water piped in from the hot springs. The hotel, still the largest in the state, was a favorite of gangster Al Capone.

1927
On March 12, park policeman James A. Cary died on West Mountain after sustaining a gunshot wound. He was the first National Park Service ranger to be murdered while on duty.

1947
More than 1 million baths were given in bathhouses around town during the year.

1974 
On Nov. 13, Bathhouse Row joined the National Register of Historic Places.

1982
The Grand Promenade became a National Recreational Trail.

1989
A dedication ceremony for the Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center took place May 13 at the newly restored bathhouse.

2000
During the second week of October, President Bill Clinton signed the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which, in part, set aside $3 million for the rehabilitation of Bathhouse Row.

2021
Hot Springs National Park celebrates its 100th birthday.