Malvernites Visit Hot Springs
By George Evans Taylor, Jr.
By George Evans Taylor, Jr.
Do you remember the times you visited Hot Springs in the old days? Those miles seemed a lot further in the old jalopies we drove then than they do nowadays. Before the bypass to Reynolds was built we went through Butterfield and Magnet Cove; this route mandated a trip over the mountain. This would test your car. If you could go over the mountain in high gear you had a �keeper� car! It was said you could just follow the beer cans to the package store near Tigre Bay to know the way to Hot Springs!
We would enter Hot Springs on Malvern Avenue. We would drive down Bath House Row, where you could stop and get a cup of hot water out of the ground, and then turn right toward the tower. On the left side of the street were several �picture taking boards� to stand behind. Then you would pay the man to take your picture there. (See some of these pictures here on these pages.)
The zig zag road up to the tower on top of Hot Springs Mountain would also test your car. Once there we would walk up the tower steps to the top, now I can hardly walk up the steps to the building! The old original tower was torn down years ago and a new one built. Last year we carried our grandson, Bradley A. Toler with us and rode the elevator up the new tower. In his words it was �Cool�.
After the tower visit we would go down the opposite side of the mountain, park and walk the opposite side of the Bathhouse Row street. Lots of pretty things to look at in the store windows. A man would take your picture while you were walking, give you a piece of paper with info on it, then you could order the picture. One of this type of picture is of three of us walking there.
Ducks were parked on this street and were used to carry tourists to ride on Lake Hamilton. No, not the feathered kind. Ducks were shined aluminum amphibian vehicles. They were WWII surplus and were used for many years there, may still be used. Tourists would get on the duck there on the street and ride all of the way to Lake Hamilton for a ride on the water.
McClards BBQ was one of our favorite places to visit, and still is. It also was former President Bill Clinton�s favorite eating place in the city. A drive by the popular Oaklawn Race Track was in order most every trip although we never went in. It was a well known fact that gangsters from up North retired in Hot Springs National Park many years ago.
My girlfriend Betty Sue Tillery and I married in 1950. Some of Betty�s girlfriends and a sister went with us in 1949 when these pictures were taken. Wife Betty and I visited there many times before and after marriage.
By George Taylor, December 18th, 2004
Return to Contents Page