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A Quick Announcement: Gearing Up for 2026!
Hey everyone,
Sep 24
•
Jenn Etherton
Gunfight in Hot Springs: The Editor vs. The Mayor
When scathing editorials weren't enough, Hot Springs Mayor T.F. Linde and newspaper editor Charles Matthews settled their political feud with pistols on…
Sep 10
•
Jenn Etherton
1
The Acid Pen of Charles Matthews: Journalism, Corruption, and Assassination in Gilded Age Hot Springs
In 1882, the editor of the Hot Springs Daily Hornet took on the city's most powerful men. They answered his ink with bullets, silencing him in the…
Sep 4
•
Jenn Etherton
1
We Bathe the World: The Unseen Labor of the American Spa
How a hidden army of skilled laborers built and sustained an iconic American industry through its golden age.
Sep 3
•
Jenn Etherton
1
August 2025
A Town Abandoned: The True Story of Hot Springs During the Civil War
Forget the myths of grand battles. Discover the forgotten history of how a fledgling spa town became a temporary state capital, only to be consumed by a…
Aug 27
•
Jenn Etherton
1
Healers, Grifters, and Gunslingers: A Visitor's Guide to Surviving 19th-Century Hot Springs
Before the gangsters, a trip to America's first health resort was a gauntlet of highwaymen, con artists, and warring lawmen. Welcome to the real Wild…
Aug 20
•
Jenn Etherton
1
The Palace Built on Spite: An Architectural Deep-Dive into the Fordyce Bathhouse
Inside the Gilded Age masterpiece with marble halls, cutting-edge tech, a basement bowling alley, and a mission to be the most extra bathhouse in…
Aug 14
•
Jenn Etherton
1
How to Build a Spa Town: A Hot Springs Tale of Fire, Floods, and Furious Egos
The only thing hotter than the water in 19th-century Hot Springs were the fires that kept burning the town down. Here's how they finally built something…
Aug 13
•
Jenn Etherton
1
Jefferson’s “Other” Expedition
Before Lewis and Clark returned, Jefferson had another team exploring the Louisiana Purchase. Their target? The mysterious "hot waters of the Washita…
Aug 6
•
Jenn Etherton
1
July 2025
Meet the Madams
The Women Who Really Ran Hot Springs's Hospitality Industry
Jul 30
•
Jenn Etherton
3
The 1899 Shootout
A Case File
Jul 25
•
Jenn Etherton
1
How a Slave Revolt in Haiti Gave Us Hot Springs
Discover the untold story of how a slave revolt in Haiti shattered Napoleon's empire, leading to the Louisiana Purchase and giving America Hot Springs.
Jul 23
•
Jenn Etherton
1
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