Two photo books capture rich legacy of Hot Springs

"Hot Springs National Park" by Mary Bell Hill
"Hot Springs National Park" by Mary Bell Hill

Books of photographs are like bowls of peanuts: They're both well-suited for nibbling. And you may reach the end of the book or the bottom of the bowl before you realize it.

That's the case with two recently published paperbacks about one of Arkansas' most storied places: Hot Springs National Park ($21.99), by Mary Bell Hill, in Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series; and Hot Springs Past and Present ($24.95), by Ray Hanley, from the University of Arkansas Press.

These picture books neatly complement each other. Hill's 128-page volume focuses on people, while Hanley's 202-page compilation highlights bathhouses, hotels and other public architecture.

Both amply convey Hot Springs' assorted distinctions and peculiarities, as well as its highs and lows since antebellum days. And either can be pleasurably skimmed by opening to almost any page -- or consumed from start to finish.

The Victorian-era cover image for Hot Springs National Park pictures three mustachioed men decked out in hats as well as three-piece suits and ties. The legs of their pants are pulled up to the knees, while their feet dangle in murky water.

As the caption explains, "These three men are enjoying a dip in the footbath spring called the 'Corn Hole.'"

Another photo of the Corn Hole reports that the spring "was believed to be advantageous for treating corns, bunions and other disorders of the feet. It was used by both men and women for soaking, but the sexes were segregated to different times of day."

Some of the athletes and other celebrities who frequented Hot Springs in its latter heyday between the two World Wars are pictured. Surprisingly, there is no image of Babe Ruth, perhaps the most famous visitor. Nor of Al Capone, the most infamous.

One of the jolliest shots shows singer Kate Smith, known as "the First Lady of Radio" and still remembered for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." The full-figured contralto is holding a towel inscribed "Hot Springs Nat'l Park, Ark."

As the caption recounts, "Unfortunately, during Smith's stay at the Mountain Valley Hotel in 1934, the facility caught fire and burned to the ground. Although uninjured, she lost everything, including her luggage. The undaunted Smith was able to supplement her remaining wardrobe with a bath towel from the park."

Cultural realities of the past are reflected in an image of Quapaw Bathhouse attendant Voncile Payton handing a cup of water to a bather in the 1950s. Payton is black, while the customer is white.

"The majority of bathing attendants were African Americans, who were not allowed to use the bathhouses along Bathhouse Row until after desegregation," according to the caption.

In Hot Springs Past and Present, Hanley has a mission. He presents page after page of photos depicting an array of sites as they appeared first at some point in the past and then as they look today.

The longtime producer with brother Steven of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Postcard Past feature, Hanley sets a tone that is melancholy but also hopeful.

His introduction notes that Hot Springs by the 1890s "filled its Ouachita Mountain valley with scores of imposing Victorian hotels, theaters and gambling houses, as well as the mansion homes of the people who built the town."

But by the time Hanley finished college four decades ago, "the threats to the unique architecture of the Spa City were mounting. Fires took some buildings, and one by one, the bathhouses began to close. More than anything, though, change came through the demolition of old structures, to make way for parking lots or modern but bland new buildings."

He hopes "that future visitors might take walks with this book in hand, perhaps stopping to envision what once stood in the lot where they park."

Then they might appreciate "how much remains of one of the nation's most remarkable historic resort towns and perhaps commit themselves to helping maintain the legacy that is Hot Springs, Arkansas."

Style on 03/22/2015

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