Sports – Hot Springs, AR

Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas, United States, and the county seat of Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs for which the city is named. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a population of 37,930, making it the eleventh-most populous city in Arkansas.

The center of Hot Springs is the oldest federal reserve in the United States, today preserved as Hot Springs National Park. The hot spring water has been popularly believed for centuries to possess healing properties, and was a subject of legend among several Native American tribes. Following federal protection in 1832, the city developed into a successful spa town. Incorporated January 10, 1851, the city has been home to Major League Baseball spring training, illegal gambling, speakeasies, and gangsters such as Al Capone, Charles “Lucky” Luciano, Frank Costello, and Bugs Moran. It also features the childhood home of the 42nd U.S. President, Bill Clinton. One of the largest Pentecostal denominations in the United States, the Assemblies of God, traces its beginnings to Hot Springs, as do horse racing at Oaklawn Park and the Army and Navy Hospital.

Much of Hot Springs’ history is preserved by various government entities. Hot Springs National Park is maintained by the National Park Service and includes Bathhouse Row, which preserves the eight historic bathhouse buildings and gardens along Central Avenue. Downtown Hot Springs is preserved as the Central Avenue Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The city also contains dozens of historic hotels and motor courts, built during the Great Depression in the Art Deco style. Due to the popularity of the thermal waters, Hot Springs benefited from rapid growth during a period when many cities saw a sharp decline in building—much like Miami’s Art Deco districts. As a result, Hot Springs’s architecture is a key part of the city’s blend of cultures, including a reputation as a tourist town and a Southern city. Also a destination for the arts, Hot Springs hosts the Hot Springs Music Festival, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, and the Valley of the Vapors Independent Music Festival.