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Hot Springs, Arkansas, circa 1910. "Bathhouse Row." At right we have the Horse Shoe, which boasts "solid porcelain tubs." 8x10 glass negative. View full size.
I've spent quite a bit of time working inside (and under) the various bathhouses as part of a NPS renovation/stabilization project in the past several years. The photo posted is totally changed today -- the oldest bathhouse still standing is the Maurice from 1911, which doesn't appear in this photo. Most of these pictured wood framed structures were replaced by concrete structures.
With most of the frame in focus this is a tribute to the photographer.
The Quapaw Bathhouse was built in 1922 on two lots that were previously used for two Victorian style bathhouses (the Horseshoe and the Magnesia). Designed by George Mann and Eugene John Stern, the building was originally to be named the Platt Bathhouse after one of the owners. However, when a tufa cavity was discovered during excavation, the owners decided to promote the cavity as an Indian cave, and the bathhouse was renamed Quapaw Bathhouse in honor of a local Native American tribe that briefly held the surrounding territory after the Louisiana Purchase was made.
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