Spring Training
HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, ARKANSAS, everyone knows is particularly blessed with the famous springs - both hot and cold - and the charm of its setting in the picturesque Ouachita Mountains.
Many people still think of the great Spa as a watering place where millions have sought and received relief from a multitude of ailments. Thru the centuries the springs have never once ceased their work of healing - bringing health to the ill and keeping the well fit. Hot Springs also offers every pleasure of outdoor life; championship golf courses, fast tennis courts, speed boats, canoe and sailboats, fine all year 'round fishing for the water sportsman and Lakes Catherine and Hamilton; invigorating swimming in the spring fed pools; miles of mountain trails, bridle paths and drives unfolding beautiful vistas and the sport of kings - horse racing - has been revived with a spring meet on the calendar of events at Oaklawn.
Hot Springs, Arkansas was a popular spring training destination for baseball players in the early part of the 20 th century. The town’s natural, spring-fed mineral hot pools made it a resort destination, and many hotels and baths were built around this tourist draw.
While entire baseball teams did their pre-season training (Spring Training) in Hot Springs (see list below), individual players made the journey there on the way to their regular spring training sites in the south. They would 'boil out,' or lose excess weight gained in the off-season, in the baths. They also took hikes in the area's rolling hills and crisp air.
Hot Springs was also a gathering place for ballplayers, where they could re-connect with others they had not seen since the end of the last season. Since formal Spring Training began around March 1, Hot Springs started bubbling with baseball activity in mid February.
Unless otherwise noted, these postcards are circa 1950. Many of these hotels and baths date back to the turn of the century.
| Major League Baseball Teams: Spring Training in Hot Springs, Arkansas |
|
|---|---|
| Team | Year |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 1901-16, 1920-23 |
| Detroit Tigers | 1908 |
| Boston Red Sox | 1909-10, 1912-18, 1920-23 |
| Chicago Cubs | 1909-10 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 1909-10 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 1910-12, 1917-18 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 1910-11 |
| St. Louis Browns | 1911 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 1912 |
| Courtesy of TOTAL BASEBALL 6. Article by Myles Friedman. | |
Hot Springs, AK Postcard Front
aHot Springs, AK Postcard Back
Pythian Bath House and Sanitarium
Aeroplane View of Hot Springs National Park, Ark.
Picturesque Goat Rock on North Mountain
Steel Observation Tower on Hot Springs Mountain
Oaklawn Court on Broadway
Rest House on Hot Springs Mountain
Entrance to Government Reservation, Hot Springs Mountain
Lake Hamilton
Country Club Golf Course
Army and Navy Hospital by Moonlight
Cartoon
Million Dollar Bath House Row and Magnolia Promenade
Just Arrived at Hot Springs; After Taking 21 Baths
Hotel Moody and Baths
Hair Pin Turn on West Mountain
Sigler Apartment Hotel
Oaklawn Race Track
Carpenter Dam
St. John's School and Church
Bath House Row and Promenad
The fame of the thermal waters reached Washington and it was in 1832 that by a special Act of Congress that the first National Park was created for the purpose of protecting these waters for the people of the nation as a health and recreation center for all time.
Despite the fact that records show Hot Springs has passed the century mark as a federal possession and legend labels the Spa generations old, Uncle Sam's first National Park is a modern thriving and progressive city of 33,000 citizens catering to an annual visiting population of over 300,000 health and pleasure seekers.
The actual definite age of the place is really unknown and scientists disagree on the specific source of the thermal health giving waters which flow from 47 springs at the base of Hot Springs Mountain.
Hot Springs, AK Postcard Front
Hot Springs, AK Postcard Back
Beautiful New Drive on West Mountain
Majestic hotel, Annex and Bath House
Air View of the New Army and Navy Hospital
New Army and Navy Hospital by moonligh
Army and Navy Hospital Annex
City Reservoir Bridge and Trail
Country Club Golf Course
Goat Rock on North Mountain
Scene on North Mountain
The New George Road
Ostrich Farm
Lake Hamilton on the Broadway of America
One of the Scenic Trails on Hot Springs Mountain
Hot Springs High Schools "Home of the Trojans"
"They are off," Oak Lawn Race Track
Cartoon
It is known however, that Hot Springs, the city, takes its name from the boiling waters which flow at the rate of almost a million gallons a day to furnish the palatial bath houses. Magnolia bordered "Bath House Row" is the Spa's show place. One of the new show places of Hot Springs is its new two million dollar Army and Navy General Hospital recently completed by the War Department. Another show place of the resort is famous Oaklawn Race Track and plant where the "Sport of Kings" has been revived as an annual Spring feature.
The resort is noted for its excellent hotel facilities with a price range to suit every purse.
Hot Springs, AK Postcard Cover
Hot Springs, AK Postcard Back
Buckstaff Baths
Quapaw Baths
Superior Bath House
Million Dollar Bath House Row and Promenade
Ozark Baths
Fordyce Baths
Maurce Baths
One of the public Hot Water Drinking Fountains
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New Army and Navy Hospital by Moonlight
New Arlington Hotel
Majestic Hotel, Annex and Bath House
Alligator Farm
Beautiful Magnolia Trees Bordering Bath House Row and Promenade
Miniature Natural Hot Spring
Lamar Bath House
"Tufa Rock" in Government Park, Foot of West Mountain
Good train service, fine paved highways and an airport make Hot Springs accessible from all parts of the country.
The Interior Department, under which the National Park Service functions is continuously showing its faith in the waters of the Park by a continuous program of improvement.
The headquarters of nearby Ouachita National Forest are also maintained in Hot Springs.