• water flowing over rocks into basin

    Hot Springs

    National Park Arkansas

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  • Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center Closed

    The Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center is closed until Fall 2013 for a major maintenance project. A temporary park Visitor Center, along with the park store, are located in the Lamar Bathhouse at the south end of Bathhouse Row. Call for more information.

History & Culture

Historic photo from HOSP archives

Rector Bathhouse, 1870s

National Park Service image from HOSP archives

Hot Springs National Park has a long and colorful history, beginning long before its designation as Hot Springs Reservation in 1832. American Indians came here for thousands of years to quarry novaculite for their tools and weapons. The Dunbar-Hunter Expedition came here in 1804, sent by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the southern reaches of the Louisiana Purchase. Soon a bustling town grew up around the hot springs to provide services for health seekers. The resultant bathing industry led to Hot Springs becoming known as the "American Spa."

 

A Brief History of Hot Springs National Park (Word document)

 

Civil War Connections for Hot Springs National Park

 

Hot Springs National Park Through the Years: A Chronology of Events (You need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to read this.)

 

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Did You Know?

copy of lithograph from a publication showing the valley of the hot springs with Hot Springs Creek on the right and two men in the foregroun

Hot Springs Reservation, the first designation of Hot Springs National Park, was set aside by Congress in 1832. This makes Hot Springs National Park the oldest unit in the national park system, 40 years older than Yellowstone National Park.