November 16-17 2011, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas

We left Little Rock and went to Hot Springs National Park, east of Little Rock in the Ozark mountains. We went to soak. Not many hot springs in this part of the country.
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bath house row. The row is part of the park. It started as a National Reservation in the 1800’s. That was before they had the park service. The building in the foreground is the Fordyce. It has been restored to its original condition and is the visitors center and museum. There are only two operating bathhouses now. The second photo is the Quapaw bathhouse

The Ozark. It is now used as a museum. These are in the Fordyce.  The ‘taking of the waters’ was done as part of a health treatment. they also had steam boxes, massages and number of hydro treatments and electrical treatments, even rub downs with mercury (for syphilis) The men’s bath hall, the soaking was done in private bathtubs. They are in the back ground. They cleaned out the tub and refilled them between patients.

  the stained glass in the ceiling there and the steam room

the hydro room, the bath was an electro bath, it had electrodes in it once. They claimed no one died in it. The shower is a needle shower and not sure what the other apparatus are for, John looking down a hole in a table in the hydro room,

  and a massage room with an electric massage instrument and two different kinds of lights for treatments.  The hall where the men and women could mingle after their treatments

the Hubbard tub, it was used for treating paralyzed or impaired people-the board above it is for lowering patients into the tub, a photo of a brochure from the 40’s showing the use of the Hubbard tub

the admin building for the park with a hot fountain outside it.  An outdoor  hot spring, there are 47 hot springs here, most are capped off and sent to the bath houses

The soaking pools at the Quapaw when we went to soak, and John in the upper pool. I got a massage and then hiked on the trail, about a mile back to the campground.  Aahhhhhhhh.