Hot Springs, Arkansas in Vintage Postcards

By Ray Hanley and Steven G. Hanley

From the 1890s to the 1920s, the postcard was an extraordinarily popular means of communication, and many of the postcards produced during this golden age can today be considered works of art. Early in the century, Hot Springs was among the most noted resorts in the nation. Its Victorian wonders drew thousands of visitors to partake in the hot mineral waters that bubbled from the earth. In the words written on one card in 1910, Many people of wealth are here from Chicago and New York. Uncle Billy went to the horse show ball at the Eastman Hotel with an ex-wife of a millionaire. Andrew Carnegie and young Jay Gould were at the ball. Showcased in this fascinating collection are over two hundred postcards from 1900 to 1960. The images are accompanied by the actual penned messages of visitors and extensively researched historical facts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Nov 15, 1998
• ISBN: 9781439615270

Ray Hanley

The authors, Little Rock brothers Ray and Steven G. Hanley, with the help of many in the community, capture not only the war but also its influence on the state�s culture for the century that followed. Ray Hanley is an executive with a global technology company, and Steven is the director of volunteer services for a major nonprofit organization serving disabled children. Between them, they have produced a daily newspaper column for 20 years and numerous Arkansas history books.

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INTRODUCTION

Visitors to Hot Springs National Park in the early 21st century find a pleasant city with a variety of attractions, but one that is surrounded by much of the franchised culture of fast food, freeways, and chain motels. They might wander today’s Bathhouse Row as vehicles whiz by and wonder about what once stood where the parking lots are now, or ponder, perhaps, what was the attraction of the several now-closed bath houses.¹ Certainly the National Park Service offers glimpses of that past, with the beautifully restored Fordyce Bath House and its helpful guides who patiently answer questions. Yet most visitors leave without a sense of what a magical, Victorian wonder Hot Springs, Arkansas, once was.

The geological wonders that would give rise to this world-famous turn-of-the-century resort have been known for hundreds of years. The fabled mineral hot waters that still bubble from the earth around Hot Springs were first known to Native-American tribes, perhaps branched from the Caddos, who had settled in the area before the arrival of the European explorers. Unsubstantiated legend says that the Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto rode into what early explorers reportedly called the Valley of the Vapors in September of 1541. While De Soto and the remnants of his expedition made it as far as the Ouachita Mountains, whether or not he actually came to Hot Springs has been debated for years and the true facts have been forever lost in history.

In 1830 an early settler to the area, Asa Thompson, leased what was called the warm springs of the Washita and built what may have been the area’s first bath house. The rough log cabin contained a single wooden tub, and was a far cry from the elaborate resorts that would arise in later years.

In 1832, four years before Arkansas statehood, the area around the hot springs was set aside by the federal government as a federal reservation, with the designation of a National Sanitarium. Its preservation for future generations was assured. This was truly remarkable for the time, as it would be several decades before the preservation of natural wonders became a part of the mission of the federal government. The action was taken in large part because of the healing properties ascribed to the hot mineral waters used for both drinking and bathing.

Incorporated as a town in 1850, Hot Springs had a population of 200 at the beginning of the Civil War. During the war almost all the residents reportedly fled to Texas, abandoning the town and the springs. The coming of the railroad in the 1870s, coupled with the return of those who had fled the threat of war, led to steady growth and the development of the resort industry. At the beginning of the new century the Spa City counted some 10,000 residents, a great many of whom drew their livelihood from the throngs who came for the attractions that arose around the hot springs bubbling from the earth.

By the turn of the 20th century, the springs that had been protected some seven decades earlier had given birth to a world-class health and recreation spa. The majesty of the Spa City in that era can be imagined by studying the surviving photographs, postcards, and narratives of the time.

Hot Springs of the early 20th century became, in many ways, a destination like south Florida, Arizona, or the Rio Grande Valley are today—a place for those with means to escape the cold winters up north. The charm and attractions of the winter retreat were often hailed by society editors in Northern newspapers. The main season, extending from January until June, brought packed trains from places like Chicago and New York. Prominent and wealthy men would often bring their entire families; some even shipped their fine horses and coaches for use on the mountainside trails surrounding the city. Even private rail cars were used to bring men such as Jay Gould and Phillip Armour to partake of what the Spa City had to offer.

A major part of Hot Springs’ acclaim was due to the world-class hotels that graced the city at the beginning of the century. Such society journals as The Chicago 400 heaped praise on the service and accommodations that were found in great hotels such as the Arlington, the Eastman, and the Majestic. The grand hotels and numerous bath houses boasted a combined total of 600 tubs, providing a capacity of 8,000 baths per day. The baths themselves gained further appeal in 1910 when U.S. Surgeon General R.M. Reilly proclaimed that, Relief may be reasonably expected at Hot Springs from the following conditions: gout and rheumatism, neuralgia, malarial poisoning, paralysis, Bright’s disease, functional diseases of the liver, chronic diarrhea, and chronic skin diseases.

In 1909, a brochure noted as having the approval of Secretary of War R.A. Alger stated the following:

"Generally speaking, all diseases of the skin, blood, digestive and secretory organs, and nervous affections and ailments peculiar to women...may be cured or benefitted....Troubles that yield most readily to the hot water treatment are: alcoholism, catarrh, chronic inflammation of the bladder and urethra, chronic ulcers, eczema, gout, hysteria, indigestion, insomnia, kidney and liver troubles, chronic diarrhea, malaria, nervous prostration, locomotor ataxia, paralysis, phthisis, psoriasis, rheumatism, scrofula, stomach diseases, tobacco poisoning,