Hot Springs National ParkIn 1832, what is now Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas was established as a reservation by an act of Congress. Its 911 acres encompassed 46 hot springs. It was not designated as a National Park until 4 Mar 1921. Yellowstone National Park was the first to be declared a U.S. National Park (authorized on 1 Mar 1872). Thus, Hot Springs is the nation's oldest national park, though not the first to carry the "National Park" designation. The park is wrapped around the core of the city of Hot Springs retaining much of the experience of early-1900s health-seekers who came to take thermal baths in the city's bathhouses and hotels. American Indian tribes had used the thermal springs for centuries before the territory was settled by whites. |
