Hot Springs Histories

Hot Springs Histories

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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…
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Jenn Etherton
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…
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Jenn Etherton
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…
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Jenn Etherton

July 2025

Meet the Madams
The Women Who Really Ran Hot Springs's Hospitality Industry
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Jenn Etherton
The 1899 Shootout
A Case File
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Jenn Etherton
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.
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Jenn Etherton
Gunfight at the Spa: The 1899 Hot Springs Massacre
The bloody true story of the day the Hot Springs Police and the Garland County Sheriff's Office went to war over control of the city's gambling rackets.
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Jenn Etherton
Unearthing the 1899 Shootout
A Research Diary
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Jenn Etherton
The Sacred Vapors
When the Valley Was Neutral Ground
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Jenn Etherton
Inside Suite 443: Al Capone's Arkansas Fortress
In the winter of 1927, Al Capone was the undisputed, blood-soaked king of Chicago.
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Jenn Etherton

March 2025

© 2025 Jennifer Etherton
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