Southern Magnolia at Hot Springs National Park

Magnolia Promenade in the late 1940s.

NPS / Hot Springs National Park Archives

Specimen Details

• Location: Hot Springs National Park
• Species: Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)
• Landscape Use: Tree Row/Formal Promenade
• Age: Approximately 5-60 years (estimated first planting 1884)
• Condition: Fair to Poor (age)
• Measurements:
  • Diameter at breast height (DBH): varies
  • Height: Average 60’-80’
  • Spread: Average 30’-50’

Significance

Hot Springs National Park, formally established in 1921, is known for the long history of its thermal waters use. The attraction to the water for medicinal treatments prompted the development of bathhouses, and eventually the area being established as a Federal Reservation in 1832. Under the management of the Department of the Interior, landscape design was to provide unification and beauty to what is known today as the “largest collection of 20th century bathhouses.” Bathhouse Row was historically designed as an "architectural park" where buildings and landscape would unite into one cohesive space.

Southern magnolia

NPS

Bathhouse Row is located along Central Avenue in the downtown core of the City of Hot Springs, Arkansas. In 1894 Lieutenant Robert Stevens’ annual report stated, “The park is shaded with well-grown trees, and in a lawn border along the front of the promenade is a row of Lombardy poplars, presenting a marked feature along the street [Reserve Street to Fountain Street]. Further out in the same border a line of magnolia trees are planted to replace the poplars, as shade, when these have served their term of usefulness” (Cultural Landscape Report, p. 2-90, 4-1). The Magnolia Promenade is a feature listed in the 1985 National Historic Landmark Nomination and a prominent feature of the park’s documented cultural landscape.

Botanical Details

The “Southern magnolia is a fast-growing, medium-sized, native evergreen tree that grows 60 to 90 feet (18-27 m) tall. The large, white flowers are perfect and fragrant. The seeds are drupelike with a soft, fleshy outer seed coat and an inner stony portion. Southern magnolia develops a deep taproot. As trees grow the root structure changes. Trees of sapling stage and beyond have a rather extensive root system. Older trees develop a fluted base with the ridges corresponding to the attachment of major lateral roots.”

Magnolia trees flank the street in front of Bathhouse Row.

NPS

The USDA Plant Guide notes that magnolia is one of the oldest species in the world. Found in North American and Asia the plant found use in traditional medicine. Ethnobotany studies in the US indicate that the Choctaw Indians used the bark treatment of skin conditions. Chemical analysis of the plant has identified components of use to pharmacology.

Preservation Maintenance

Rehabilitation and restoration is the specified treatment of the historic Magnolia trees along Bathhouse Row/Central Avenue. This is to be accomplished by:

• Phased process of selective removal of existing aged/diseased trees and the planting of new trees of the same species in the row to avoid gaps along the promenade.
• Engage a certified arborist to evaluate tree health and selectively prune branches

References

• Hot Springs National Park Cultural Landscape and Environmental Assessment
• Magnolia grandiflora, Fire Effects Information System, Index of Specis Information, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Cultural Landscape Profile

Bathhouse Row