Hot Springs

$26.95

Past and Present
Ray Hanley
978-1-55728-660-4 (paper)
December 2014

 

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A century ago Hot Springs, Arkansas, was a world-renown resort city. Today, the town remains the most unique city in Arkansas but with much of its Victorian-to-1950s views nearly unrecognizable. Hot Springs: Past and Present shows vividly the before and after of hundreds of sites, answering questions such as “What used to be on this corner?” and “What was here before it was a parking lot?” The answer to those questions is often an opulent hotel, a theater, a bathhouse, a gambling house, or a mansion. Fire destroyed many buildings, even more were demolished, and some sites remain not so unlike they used to be. Hot Springs: Past and Present makes a perfect walking companion for anyone visiting the town and wishing to learn more about this one-of-a-kind place through not only the photographs but also the informative text that provides a good overview of the town’s history.

Ray Hanley has published extensively from his research of Arkansas history as told through postcards. His books include Wish You Were Here: Arkansas Postcards Past, 1900–1925, Main Street Arkansas, with Steven Hanley, and A Place Apart: A Pictorial History of Hot Springs, Arkansas. He lives in Little Rock.

“Hot Springs is one of the most fascinating places in Arkansas, both a natural wonder and perhaps the most diverse city in the state. However, time has not been good to the Valley of the Vapors. Hot Springs has suf­fered from several devastating fires, but it is neglect and redevelopment that have robbed the city of many architectural and historical wonders. Ray Hanley, who is widely known for his gigantic collection of Arkansas postcards, has recently chronicled how Hot Springs changed over time. Hot Springs: Past and Present will be fascinating reading for anyone inter­ested in the history of Arkansas’s Spa City.”
—Tom Dillard, author of Statesmen, Scoundrels, and Eccentrics: A Gallery of Amazing Arkansans
 
“As noted on the book’s back cover, Hanley’s publication makes a perfect walking companion for anyone visiting Hot Springs who wishes to learn more about this one-of-a-kind place.”
—Hot Springs Sentinel-Record, January 15, 2015