Hot Springs.....In The Year 2000

I've recently been going through some of the boxes of old film negatives that have been collecting dust for the past few years. I found several rolls of film that were taken in Hot Springs, all the way back....in the year 2000.



I know now that people are supposed to find a prestigious internship the summer before they graduate from college, one that can help put you on the path to future success in your desired career. Well that year, three friends and I did the opposite of that. We decided it would be fun to instead move to Hot Springs for the summer and all take jobs working at the Magic Springs theme park, which had just reopened. So we managed to snag jobs at the park (I worked in games!), and then also find a house to rent (an old run-down house in need of repairs that we got only because no one else wanted to move in there). I did take advantage of my time there and took a bunch of pictures, mostly using infrared black and white film.



Infrared film can achieve some pretty cool effects, sometimes resulting in grainy and surreal photos. A blue sky would show in infrared film as a dark black, and plants and vegetation would vibrantly appear white like in this shot from an overlook in the National Park. You can tell this is an old photo because the Majestic Hotel is still there in the distant background (it was still open when this was taken, it would later close and then be partially destroyed by a fire).



It was a fun film to play around with, although it was notoriously tricky and delicate to use. The film was extremely vulnerable to light, and had to be changed in complete darkness. If you weren't careful, the film would be ruined by light leaks (which several exposures I took were, because I was definitely not careful enough handling it). There was only one place in the state that would develop the film - a little shop called Pinkey's Photographic that used to be located near Central High in Little Rock. Unfortunately it, like so many other little independent photography shops, have long since closed down.





This is a shot of the old National Baptist Hotel, which was built in 1923 as the Woodmen of Union Building. The building was empty and abandoned when this was taken, although it held a great deal of history. When it was built, the building contained a hotel, a performance venue and a bathhouse that catered to African American visitors. This was in the sad age of segregation, when African Americans were allowed to work in the fancy Bathhouse Row bathhouses but not actually allowed to take baths there. The National Baptist Hotel and Bathhouse closed in 1981, but was saved a few years ago and is now an independent living facility for people aged 55 and older.



Along Central Avenue is the old Fountain Motel, one of several old motor inns that were built in the 1950s and 60s. The motel used to have this great old neon sign, but it has since been taken down and replaced with a sadly modern sign.



Also near Central Avenue is the old Knickerbocker Hotel, which was built in the 1930s and catered to Jewish tourists and residents. The building is still empty and abandoned today.



And one shot looking up at the Medical Arts Building, one of the most architecturally interesting buildings in the state. It was abandoned and empty when this was taken in 2000, and sadly nothing has changed since then.



And while driving randomly around with a roll of regular black and white film, I stopped and got this shot. I can't remember where this was taken so who knows if it ever did become a fish stand.



And one last shot from the time capsule of old negatives. This was from a roll of color film and again shows the old Medical Arts Building. Not much has changed in the decade or so since, except now the streetlights are LED and they give off a cool white color instead of the soft yellow of the sodium vapor lights.