Hot Springs, AR Part II: Hot Springs

Hot Springs, AR

After exploring the varoius rooms in the restored Fordyce Bathhouse, we continued our walk up Central Avenue to the end of Bathhouse Row. There was a large, grassy area just past the last bathhouse, so we walked a little farther to check it out. It turned out the grassy area was Arlington Park named after the Arlington Hotel that used to stand on the site. Actually, there were two Arlington Hotels on that site. The first was opened in 1875 and was later razed to build a new, bigger hotel called the New Arlington in 1892-93. The New Arlington burned to the ground in 1923.

A third, 500-room Arlington Hotel was built across the street in 1925, and the spot where the first two hotels were located eventually became Arlington Park. The third Arlington Hotel sits in a prominent position at the northern end of Central Avenue.

There is a sculpture in the median of Central Avenue in front of the Arlington that depicts Mother Nature surrounded by deer. She is pouring water from an urn. The water comes from one of the town's hot springs.

As we described in our last post, the water for the thermal springs percolates slowly down through porous rock to depths of up to 8,000 feet where it is heated by the natural thermal gradient deep within the earth. The water is then propelled relatively quickly up through cracks and fissures where it flows out of the springs at an average temperature of 143º.

Back across the street in Arlington Park there is a hot cascade that flows down the hillside and into a pool at the bottom.

Margery didn't believe it was as hot as it was. You couldn't leave your hand in it for very long.

We decided to walk up the path to the top of the hill where we came to the spot that appeared to be where the water for the cascade was coming from. We could feel the heat coming off the water when we were standing several feet away. To give an idea of size, the algae-covered area in the center from which the water is flowing was about two feet wide.

All the springs used to flow down over the rocks from the side of the hill. As the water flowed, it formed tufa, which is a type of limestone created when carbonate precipitates from hot spring water as the water cools. Tufa is similar to travertine, but it is more porous.

The springs then flowed down a creek through the center of town. In the late 1800s, stone arches were built over the creek and a wide street was built on top. The creek still runs under Central Avenue.

Today, all but a few of the 47 springs are capped to preserve the purity of the water. When we went up the hill overlooking the backs of the bathhouses, we could see the green caps of numerous springs.

The golden age of bathing was in the 1920s and 1930s. Not only did people come to Hot Springs to be cured of their illnesses, it became fashionable for the wealthy to spend their vacations at the spa. WWII saw a decline in bathing. There was a brief resurgence after the war, but advancements in medicine and the development of antibiotics all but ended the use of baths for health purposes. By the 1960, society's needs had changed and interest trended away from the social activities that surrounded the spas.

The elegant Fordyce was the first bathhouse to close in 1962. By 1985, the Buckstaff was the only bathhouse that remained open. Today, the Buckstaff and the Quapaw are leased to private businesses who operate the spas.

Another place to get a good overview of the whole area is the Hot Springs Mountain Observation Tower. To get to the tower, we took the right fork at the Arlington Hotel onto Fountain Street, then took a sharp right and drove up winding North Mountain Drive.

The tower is in the national park, but it is operated by a concessionaire. There are $1 off discount coupons for the tower and many other area attractions in the tourist magazines you can pick up at the Hot Springs Information Center and elsewhere, and there are also senior discounts. However, America the Beautiful passes are accepted for half price admission to the tower, so that was even cheaper.

This the third tower built on Hot Springs Mountain. The first was a 75-foot wooden fire tower that burned after it was struck by lightening. The second tower was 175 feet high and was built in the 1920s from steel. It was torn down because it was unstable. The current tower was opened in 1983.

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You can walk to the top of the 216-foot tower, or you can ride the glass-enclosed elevator. At 99º outside, we chose the elevator. Come to think of it, with a height of 216 feet, we would have chosen the elevator even if it was 50º outside. Margery isn't real crazy about heights, but she bravely stepped toward the elevator window for a photo. She even managed a smile, but you'll notice she is hanging tightly onto the railing.

At the top, there is a glass-enclosed platform and an open platform above that. We stopped at the glass-enclosed platform where there was some historical information about Hot Springs including some newspaper clippings and a video about Bill Clinton. Although Bill Clinton was born down the road in Hope, AR, Hot Springs was his boyhood home.

Margery stayed on the glass-enclosed level while Paul went up to the open deck to take photos. The one below shows the commercial part of town to the southwest. The heat and humidity made for some haze, but you can still see for quite a distance.

The next photo shows the Arlington Hotel (the V-shaped building with the orange tile roofs) at the north end of Central Avenue.

And the photo below shows North Mountain.

The heyday of the bathhouses in the 1920s and 1930s attracted a collection of unsavory characters to the Hot Springs area. We'll explore Hot Springs gangster connections in our next post.

Comments

[Alan & Marilyn]

Glad to see you made your way to the Arlington -- we always enjoyed visiting H.S...it's been a long time! Nice pics!

[Marsha]

As Paul and I sit here reading the blog, we can't help but laugh. We will be in that exact area the end of June. We thought...for just a second...we could just copy and paste your last two posts, and we would have ours done...LOL. I am with you Margery...I am not crazy about heights either.
Thanks for the heads up on the coupons. Paul has the AIB card in his wallet...when he remembers to take it with him.
Great post as always.