The Hot Springs

According to documented history, people have for centuries availed themselves of the 47 hot springs that flow from the slope of Hot Springs Mountain at a temperature of 143°F. In fact, more than one million people a year are estimated to have immersed themselves in the thermal waters during Bathhouse Row's glory days, and American Indians were known to use the waters during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Why is the water hot?

Rainfall is heated through a non-volcanic process as descends into the earth through cracks and holes in the mountain rock. Along its journey, it picks up traces of minerals then the waters eventually resurface on the western side of the mountain, -- at the rate of some 850,000 gallons a day! Scientists estimate that the resurfacing waters are around 4,000 years old.

The park has several display springs open for public viewing, but most of them are covered by green boxes to prevent contamination.

The Bath Houses

The Buckstaff

The Buckstaff is the only continuously operational bathhouse on the Row and has been in service since 1912.

Designed in the Neoclassical Revival style, the building's exterior is cream-colored brick with with stucco finishes, spandrels, friezes, cornices and parapet. The entrance is divided into seven bays by engaged columns and pavilions flank the north and south ends of the structure.

The Fordyce

The Fordyce, the largest structure on the Row, was built in 1915 and ceased service in the early 1960s. It now serves as the national park visitor center today, having reopened in 1989 after extensive restoration efforts.

The center features exhibits, films and 23 rooms that have been restored and furnished to reflect the peak of the bathing era.

Designed in Renaissance Revival style, the three-story, cream-colored brick structure is the most ornate of the bath houses and contains both Italian and Spanish elements. It features terra cotta detailing, a limestone porch, stained glass, friezes and copper marquee.

The Hale

The Hale was constructed in 1892 in replacement of an earlier incarnation of the bath house. The building was renovated in 1919 and again in the 1930s, switching its Neoclassical style for Spanish Revival (Mission Style).

The largely brick and concrete structure is reinforced with iron and steel and features a stucco exterior (over the formerly red brick exterior) and a red-tile roof.

The bath house ceased operation in 1978.

The Lamar

Construction on The Lamar was completed in 1923 in a transitional style common for the time.

It is a concrete structure with stucco exterior and features some classical revival elements including symmetry, cornices and pediments. There is a one-story, enclosed sun porch that spans nearly the entire front of the building leads and into the lobby, which features murals of architectural and country scenes.

The bath house ceased operation in 1985.

The Maurice

Construction began on The Maurice in 1911 and completed the following year.

The three-story structure features 79 rooms, covering some 30,000 square feet (includes basement).

Designed in a combination of Renaissance Revival and Mediterranean styles, the brick and concrete building's exterior walls are finished with stucco and inset with colored tiles. The structure also features a five-bay enclosed sun porch at the entrance, and had a roof garden and 30 tubs capable of offering 650 baths a day.

The bath house ceased operation in 1974.

The Ozark

Built in 1922, The Ozark showcases Spanish Colonial Revival style.

Constructed of brick and concrete, the two-story structure contains 37 rooms and approximately 14,000 feet. The building features a stucco exterior, a red clay tile roof and decorative cartouches above the pavilion windows. Twin towers are topped with finials and the main entrance is through an enclosed sun porch.

The bath house ceased operation in 1977.

The Quapaw

The Quapaw also features Spanish Colonial Revival style.

Completed in 1922, the masonry and reinforced concrete building was finished with stucco. Its large dome sits on an octagonal base and is covered with brilliantly colored tiles and capped with a copper cupola. Directly above the structure's entrance is a carved Indian head cartouche. Other cartouches of scalloped shells and a spiny sculpin fish adorn the parapets at the north and south ends of the building.

The bath house ceased operation in 1984.

The Superior

Completed in 1916, The Superior is the northernmost building on the Row.

Designed in Classical Revival style, the two-story structure also boasts a basement and is constructed of concrete and masonry. The building contains 23 rooms and more than 10,000 square feet, and features friezes, cornices, brick pilasters with insets and concrete painted to imitate decorative tile.

The bath house ceased operation in 1983.

The Grand Promenade

The Grand Promenade is a half-mile-long, scenic walkway that runs north-south on the hillside behind Bathhouse Row.

Construction began on the walkway in the 1930s and was a gravel-covered, graded pathway by the early 1940s. It was completed in the early 1960s, and the paving brick was replaced in 1984.

The Promenade runs from Reserve Street to Fountain Street and features plazas, benches, game tables, plants, birds, squirrels, and display springs along the way. More traditional hiking trails intersect with the brick path in several places.

The Promenade is handicapped accessible, featuring a ramp at the north end.

The Stevens Balustrade

The Stevens Balustrade is situated between the Fordyce and Maurice bath houses at about the center of the Row.

Two stone pillars topped with bronze federal eagles mark the original main entrance to the Reservation and a wide concrete path leads up to the balustrade.

The baroque, double-staircase structure is constructed of limestone ashlar masonry and concrete. Its central bay contains a drinking fountain

The balustrade is named for Lt. Robert Stevens, the Army engineer who designed the entrances to the reservation and conceived of the magnolia-lined promenade along the front of the Row.