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The postcards of the day are of the Army and Navy Hospital at the Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas and show the original hospital and the 1930s version. American Indians lived in the area now included in the park boundaries around 3,000 years ago and in 1818, a treaty with the Quapaw Indians conveyed the territory containing the hot springs to the United States. The federal government reserved the hot springs in 1832 and the Quapaw Indians continued to visit and use the baths. In 1922, the Quapaw bathhouse was opened and the Indians were among their customers. The springs include 47 hot springs and their watershed that flow from the southwestern slope of Hot Springs Mountain.
The federal reservation eventually developed into a widely known resort and was often called "The American Spa". It attracted not only the wealthy but also the poor from around the world who came to improve their health. Early wooden structures were a fire hazard and were replaced by a row of stone and masonry bathhouses along Central Avenue in the early 1900s. People have used the hot spring water to treat rheumatism and other aliments for more than 200 hundred years.
The first postcard is a circa 1905 view of the Army and Navy Hospital and will soon be added to my website.
The second postcard is a 1933 view of the new and improved Army and Navy Hospital and will also be added to the website soon.
I will continue this discussion in my next blog but in the meantime be sure to check out my website, MoodysPostcards.
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