"A Town With An Interesting History: Hot Springs" Top 5 Page for this destination Arkansas Favorite Tip by deecat

Favorite thing: Hot Springs is rather small (about 35,000), but it has a cosmopolitan flair about it. This city certainly has a colorful history.
Thousands of years ago, Indians used the hot springs in the area for bathing. They called the region "Valley of Vapors" because of the steam that rises from the hot springs. These baths were important to the Indians; so important that they called it their "neutral ground". thus, different tribes came to bathe in peace.
President Andrew Jackson signed a bill that set aside four parcels of land as a federal reservation. At about the same time, these springs were also attracting many settlers; eventually, a little town emerged as Hot Springs.
Soon, a railroad to Hot Springs was completed, and this new access lead to Hot Spring's development into a world-class resort in the early 20th Century.

Fondest memory: The city made up a slogan of "We Bathe the World"--their slogan turned out to be quite prophetic because famous people such as Harry Truman, Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, and Andrew Carnegie came thus making Hot Springs the place to be.
That popularity did not last forever. The town fell on hard times, and most of the bath houses closed. But, because of a renewed interest in health and determined people who believe in restoration, Hot Springs has once again found a following. Bath House Row has been restored, and even though only two of these lovely bath houses are in use today (one as a welcome/information center and one as a working Bath House), they have all been brought back to their one-time grandeur.