Hot Springs

Recently I took Jonah on a quick trip to Hot Springs to celebrate the end of summer and the start of the new school year. We first went by the Mid-America Science Museum, which is a fun little place for kids. Then we headed over to the Hot Springs Mountain Tower. The tower sits on the top of a hill in the National Park, and provides some nice views of the city and the nearby mountains.



It had been about 100 degrees when we made it to the Science Museum. But at the top of the tower it was actually quite comfortable, thanks to some cooling winds coming in from an approaching thunderstorm.



The tower stands 216 feet tall, and was built in 1983. It replaced two previous towers that had been built on the mountain, in 1877 and 1906.





We headed back to the car and followed the curvy road as it ran along the top of the mountains...



We dropped down into the city, which was busy with summer tourists. I pulled over and got a few quick pictures of my favorite building in Hot Springs - the Medical Arts Building.



The art deco skyscraper was built in 1929 and was the tallest building in the state. It had been almost entirely abandoned for decades, but is now in the process of being converted into a hotel.



Just down Central Avenue is the old Army-Navy Hospital, which was built in 1933. It sadly has been empty and vacant since 2019, and already you can see broken windows on the front of its imposing facade. I hope a new use can be found for this historic structure, and that it doesn't meet the same fate as the Majestic Hotel.



And then we made one last stop in Hot Springs, at one of the mountain overlooks. It provides a great view of the city and the old Army-Navy Hospital, along with the Tower. The massive storm was moving in, and it started raining while we were up there. I hurried back to the car and started driving home (perfect timing since we drove through pouring rain the entire way back to Little Rock!).