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By entering Arkansas through Texarkana (TX, AR) we were able to visit the only federal building of its kind in the U.S. In the middle of State Line Street, which actually follows the border between Texas and Arkansas through the center of town, is the unique edifice. The large building houses the only Post Office and Courthouse that is shared by two states. Completed in 1933 the building acknowledges both states since the bottom half is made up of Texas pink granite and the upper portion is Arkansas limestone.

Our destination was closer to the center of the state, Hot Springs National Park. When Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872 it was the first such park in the U.S. (and the world) but it was not the first time the Federal Government had set aside land. Hot Springs Reservation in Arkansas was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson in 1832 to protect the springs on the southwestern slope of Hot Springs Mountain. The same Jackson that with his cronies handed David Crockett his electoral defeat that prompted his fateful move to Texas, the same man responsible for the policy that caused the Trail of Tears, but I digress.

As our nation’s first stab at protecting special places Hot Springs isn’t bad, it just isn’t what most of us expect from a National Park. Although the park encompasses 5,400 acres of oak-hickory-pine forest the focus is on the hot water that bubbles out of the ground. The springs have been popular for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. There is evidence that the novaculite (a stone once used to make weapons, now used to make whetstones) quarries in this eastern edge of the Ouachita Mountains (pronounced WASH-it-ta, the current spelling is the fault of the French) were used over 3,000 years ago.

While it can’t be proven that those early Americans utilized the hot waters it is safe to say that the people knew of the area. After all, it would be hard to miss a valley that fills with steam in the winter. A group of Native Americans led the first European, Hernando de Soto, to the “Valley of Vapors” in 1541. The next documentation of the springs was by a Frenchman who stayed in a nearby Quapaw village in 1771. Interestingly, the Quapaw were inadvertently responsible for the name of the state, since other tribes called them Arkansa, “the downriver people.”

The area was later explored by a little known party, the Hunter-Dunbar Expedition. At President Thomas Jefferson’s request the group left Natchez, Mississippi on October 16, 1804. Traveling by river (the Mississippi to the Red, up the Black to the Ouachita, and finally to the Hot Springs River) the party mapped the region and took copious notes of the animals, plants, and natural resources of the area. They tarried for a month at the hot springs before returning to ‘civilization’ in January of 1805.

By the 1830s, without any regulation by the Federal Government, the first bathhouses, crude brush huts, were erected. The purported health benefits of the steaming water increased the area’s popularity and soon hotels and bathhouses were competing for business. In the late 1870s the Federal Government finally began regulating its Reservation. For sanitary purposes Hot Springs Creek was covered over and a large walkway was created on top of it. Other improvements modeled after the famous spas of Europe soon followed.

By the time Al Capone started staying in suite 443 at the Arlington Hotel every comfort was available at “The American Spa,” as the area was called. It was such a popular place that Capone and the other gangsters declared it neutral territory so they could all enjoy it. Gangsters weren’t the only folks fond of the place, in the late 1800s and early 1900s the area was the Spring Training capital. The Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Brooklyn Nationals, Chicago White Stockings, and Boston Red Sox took advantage of the hot waters to soak their sore muscles. Babe Ruth and the prize-fighter Jack Dempsey are probably the most recognizable names from that period.

In 1921 the Hot Springs Reservation officially became the 18th National Park. Shortly after WWII visitation to the springs declined and numerous bathhouses closed. In the 1950s a young Bill Clinton moved to Hot Springs with his parents. He lived there until after high school. Meanwhile, the community of Hot Springs continued to grow. Now the town of roughly 33,000 crowds the park on three sides. Which brings us up to the present day.

While the park includes a campground, picnic area, and miles of trails the most popular area is Bathhouse Row, where eight of the historical buildings still stand. Only one, the Buckstaff Bath, still offers full service soaks in the hot water. The Fordyce Bathhouse has been extensively restored and serves as the park’s Visitor Center. Other bathhouses are undergoing renovation so that they can be rented.

None of the 47 active springs in the park have flowed naturally across the ground since the late 1800s. The roughly 700,000 gallons of water that bubble up every day are piped into the park’s large underground reservoir before distribution. Since the water that emerges from the earth is 143° (F) it must be cooled before use. The park service runs cold city water over the hot water pipes which cools the water in the pipes (the park service emphasizes that the city water does not mix with the spring water).

After lowering the temperature to roughly 100° (F) the water is piped to the Buckstaff Bathhouse, several fountains, and the Arlington collection pool. The Arlington pool area most closely resembles how the springs must have looked before development. As the water flows down the side of the mountain it cools which causes the minerals in the water to drop out of the water. The deposits of calcium carbonate accumulate to create a rock known as tufa.

So, where does all this hot stuff come from? Originally, it was rain. Park scientists estimate that the water emerging today fell as rain about 4,000 years ago. The water percolates deep into the earth where it is heated, then the less-dense hot water follows fault lines to the surface at the base of Hot Springs Mountain.

Interestingly, not all the water that bubbles up is hot, on the north end of Bathhouse Row are two cold springs (62° F). We tried the water of the Happy Hollow spring and it was delicious. Especially since our stroll along the Grand Promenade turned into a steep journey to the top of the mountain (well, you can’t be that close and not go…). The view from the top was quite expansive and it was such a gorgeous day.

Of all the things we read during our visit this is my personal favorite: “The National Park Service does not claim the water is curative, but the park does certify that it is safe to drink.” Good to know!

Photos: View our photos from Texarkana and Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas.

Dates: We visited Hot Springs National Park on 03/24/2007.