Garland County Historical Society

Garland County Historical Society The Garland County Historical Society was founded in 1960 to preserve the history of Garland County.
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Arkansaw ClubAround the 1900's, the Arkansaw Club (pictured with its lovely balconies) located behind the grand Eastman ...
06/19/2026

Arkansaw Club

Around the 1900's, the Arkansaw Club (pictured with its lovely balconies) located behind the grand Eastman Hotel, was one of the most elegant night spots in the nation. The lower level housed the bar and casino while the upper level was used as a bo****lo. It was destroyed in the 1913 fire - along with much of Hot Springs! "Gambling in the Spa", W. Threadgill

"A major gambling establishment in Hot Springs, the Arkansaw Club, (shown in 1900) opened in the late 1890s and closed in 1913. On the southeast corner of Spring Street and Valley Street (now Malvern Avenue), it offered fifty-cent lunches, a saloon, a restaurant, a casino, and ...a brothel. To the right of the club is the Hot Springs Post Office, before its 1903 move to Benton Street (now Convention Boulevard)." [excerpt from "Then and Now" by Mike Blythe] Since the publication of this book, Mr. Blythe has since learned that the Arkansaw Club was actually built about 1890.

Then and Now, M. Blythe
Gambling in the Spa, W. Threadgill

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Mollie's RestaurantMollie's opened at 360 Central Ave, pictured here, in 1955 and stayed in that location until a kitche...
06/17/2026

Mollie's Restaurant
Mollie's opened at 360 Central Ave, pictured here, in 1955 and stayed in that location until a kitchen fire in 1977 encouraged a move a little further from downtown (538 West Grand). Murray and Mollie Forshberg had opened their first eatery at 414 Central, a delicatessen. In time, after her husband's death, Mollie opened Mollie's Restaurant - specializing in Kosher type specialties like corned beef sandwiches, chicken in a pot (included matzo balls, kreplach and veggies), knish, cabbage soup or maybe blintzes? The walls of the restaurant were filled with autographed photos of famous folks that visited and/or performed in Hot Springs
The Forshberg Family at Mollie's included 3 generations including Mollie. Murray and Mollie's son Paul and wife Betty plus their daughter Sandy Carrington
The West Grand location closed in 2009.

Mollie's was a Hot Springs tradition for many residents and visitors - at both locations! Do you have memories of Mollie's in Hot Springs?

1960 HSHS Old Gold Book

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The historic Spear Building at 370 Central Avenue, The E. O. Spear Building at the corner of Central Avenue and Mountai...
06/16/2026

The historic Spear Building at 370 Central Avenue,
The E. O. Spear Building at the corner of Central Avenue and Mountain Street is one of the historic buildings that contribute to the Central Avenue Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. The Spear Building constructed ca 1905 was originally home to Mobb’s St. Louis Drugstore. Drugs and New Cures are advertised over the entrance.
During the 1920's, the two-story building housed the Mattar Hotel Grand upstairs with Mattar Turkish decorative furniture and goods at street level. Twenty years later the Central Avenue storefront was the home of Eugene Kirsch’s Lord’s Art Gallery.
In 1997, Tom and Mary Daniel opened National Park Gifts & Souvenirs in the historic space. Today tourists strolling Central Avenue enjoy a large selection of Hot Springs treasures to take home from National Park Gifts & Souvenirs.

Photo: E. O. Spears Building, built ca 1905 / Mobb's St. Louis Drugstore
Photo: E. O. Spears Building, M. Blythe

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Mrs. Miller's Chicken & Steak House was a beloved, long-running local restaurant and landmark located at 4723 Central A...
06/14/2026

Mrs. Miller's Chicken & Steak House was a beloved, long-running local restaurant and landmark located at 4723 Central Ave (Highway 7 South) in Hot Springs which would be in the area of the current Orr's Toyota dealership. Mrs. Miller's is widely remembered for its legendary fried chicken, whole fried catfish, and signature fruit conserve served with biscuits.
Do you have memories of Mrs. Miller's?
The restaurant closed 9/9/2005.

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In 1952, this would have been your view on Central Avenue traveling south from about Bridge Street toward the Como Hotel...
06/13/2026

In 1952, this would have been your view on Central Avenue traveling south from about Bridge Street toward the Como Hotel, On your right is the Morris's Rexall Drug Store, Dino's (Soncini) Men's Store, Rephan's Men's Store, Pate's Shoe Store, then Penney's, Goltz Jewelry, Dan Cohen Shoe and Lockwood's Men Store. Chapel Street divides this busy Central Ave block from the Goddard Hotel.

On the left, starting at Spenser's Corner (then listed as Spencer's Idle Hour Recreation Parlor, billiards and Wholesale Novelties), Railway Express Agency, Hot Springs Paint & Paper, followed by the large FC Sterns Hardware building. The Malco Theater is featuring Howard Duff and Collen Gray in "Model's Inc." along with Popeye and the News!

Those lovely metal utility poles had been installed in 1914

Photo dated Friday 11am May 23, 1952; Titled The Main Street: View SW ward
Photographer not identified
Harley Bone Collection, donated by H. Bone

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Gulpha Gorge - HSNP The entrance to Gulpha Gorge grounds - picnic area and camp grounds - ca 1945The Gulpha Gorge Auto C...
06/12/2026

Gulpha Gorge - HSNP

The entrance to Gulpha Gorge grounds - picnic area and camp grounds - ca 1945

The Gulpha Gorge Auto Camp is pictured in 1938, (photo courtesy of the NPS, photographer Frank Werner). The Auto Camps grew popular as more Americans purchased automobiles for their personal use and highways improved.

A swimming lake was a feature of the Gulpha Gorge Auto Camp. A diving board was constructed at the lake in 1926. The lake was a feature of this camping site until drained for health concerns in 1941 and was permanently abandoned.
Gulpha Gorge remains a beautiful and valued part of Hot Springs National Park

Info Source: The Hot Springs of Arkansas Through the Years, A Chronology of Events, NPS 2004

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Couchwood, the lakeshore home of Harvey C. Couch on Lake CatherineOnce the Ouachita River water impounded by Remmel Dam ...
06/10/2026

Couchwood, the lakeshore home of Harvey C. Couch on Lake Catherine

Once the Ouachita River water impounded by Remmel Dam formed Lake Catherine, Harvey Couch built a country estate called Couchwood. He brought prominent business and government people to the lodge to make them aware of the industrial possibilities of the state. Huge family reunions were also held at this home.

Couchwood was one of the first lakeside homes to be built on Lake Catherine, Arkansas's first inland man-made fresh water lake.
In this top photo, Harvey Couch is standing on the top row, extreme right.
From the website couchwood.org - "Harvey Couch created three interconnected utility companies from scratch—AP&L, Mississippi Power and Light, and Louisiana Power and Light. He also built the first modern natural gas–fired power plant in the lower Mississippi Valley, near Monroe, Louisiana. With permits from Washington DC, he built Remmel and Carpenter dams in Garland County, using stones from the riverbanks and timber from the soon-to-be-inundated lands, thereby creating Lake Hamilton and Lake Catherine, the latter named for his daughter. The only luxury he allowed himself was a rustic log cabin on Lake Catherine, just outside of Hot Springs (Garland County). He called it Couchwood, and there he entertained everyone who had helped him in his rise to fame, as well as international bankers, and presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt."

The photo of Couchwood on the left is a different perspective of the exterior of this lodge.
The group of men at Couchwood included Herbert Hoover (l to r he is #1 on the left), several unidentified men and #8 is Harvey Couch along with Col. John Fordyce #9.
Garland County, Arkansas: Our History and Heritage, I. B. Anthony, editor

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When the county opened Ouachita Memorial Hospital in 1954, the third floor had the nursery. The building was located on...
06/09/2026

When the county opened Ouachita Memorial Hospital in 1954, the third floor had the nursery. The building was located on Olive Street opposite the school. The area is currently empty.

Ouachita Memorial Hospital Guild
Charter Members names reported on the reverse of the photo
Front Row
Mrs. Cynthia (Bernard) Rephan, Mrs. Don Fiene, Mrs. Ann Stell ( I. Granger) McDaniel, Mrs. Hazel (Earl) Ricks, Mrs. Frances (E. Carrol) Shelton, Mrs. Jim Carney, Mrs. Fred Pathman, Mrs. Elizabeth (Walter) Rather

Back Row
Mrs. Tom Blackwell, Mrs. Henry Riley, Mrs. Louis Moore, Mrs. Janet (Roy) Clinton, Mrs. Wilkes Crume, Mrs. Carolyn (Bob) Scudder

Photo: 1954

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The National Park Service description of the Army - Navy General Hospital that was active in Hot Springs and the buildin...
06/07/2026

The National Park Service description of the Army - Navy General Hospital that was active in Hot Springs and the building currently sits empty waiting on its new mission.
This photo is curtesy of National Institutes of Health

"Hot Springs is home to the former Army-Navy Hospital, the first general hospital in the nation that provided treatment to both Army and Navy patients.

The dream of the Army-Navy Hospital came to be during a dinner party in the Palace Bathhouse in 1882. Sen. John Logan declared Hot Springs to be “an ideal location for an institution of this character” and promised to introduce legislation for an appropriation upon his return to Washington, D.C. The Army-Navy Hospital opened to patients in January 1887 and was led by the Secretary of War, but control was handed off to the U.S. Army in 1957.

In the early 1930s, the original building was replaced with a brick-mortar and steel facility with 412 beds. It cost a mere $1.5 million, which would equal nearly $15 million in today’s market. (Photos of both facilities seen below)

During World War II, the hospital was at its peak business, having become the army’s leading medical facility in the country for treating patients with arthritis. Even after the close of the war, the hospital continued to grow, serving more than 100,000 veterans by 1945." - NPS

This view of the hospital ( #2 - brick) is dated 1933

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The photo looks north up Central Ave with Bridge St on your right. The Cigar sign would be on Spencer's Corner. The Al...
06/06/2026

The photo looks north up Central Ave with Bridge St on your right. The Cigar sign would be on Spencer's Corner. The Albright sign across Bridge Street advertised the Albright Bar and Cafe. Asbahr and Herman were listed as the proprietors. The building was soon torn down and the Citizen's National Bank building replaced this 3 story building and remains today. The Bridge Street side of the Bar and Cafe advertises Budweiser, Wiedemann and Schlitz Beers.
The trolley is seen in the distance further north

The Citizen's National Bank Building, later known as the First Federal Savings, was ready for occupancy in 1912 - dating this photo CA 1910

This photo was preserved by the National Institutes of Health / National Library of Medicine and is thought to be public domain.

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Address

328 Quapaw Avenue
Hot Springs, AR
71901

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 1pm
Tuesday 9am - 1pm
Wednesday 9am - 1pm
Thursday 9am - 1pm
Friday 9am - 1pm

Telephone

(501) 321-2159

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