A Visit to Fordyce Bathhouse

 Bathhouse row is located in the National Park of Hot Springs. The hot spring waters were first found by Native Americans. In the 1540 Hernando de Soto also discovered this area. The sculpture below, of de Soto greeting a native who presents him with a container of the spring water, we saw immediately as we entered  the Fordyce bathhouse.

 In the early 1800s crude huts sprung up around the springs. People soon found the spring waters to be physically restorative. The promise of improved health also drew Civil War veterans and others with disabling conditions to the springs. In 1876 the Supreme Court ruled against any private land claims and assured that the thermal waters would be available to all. From 1892 to 1923 eight public bathhouses were built,compromising of what is now know as Bathhouse Row. Presently the Fordyce, built in 1915, is the park visitor center and museum. The Buckstaff, built in 1912, is the only operating bathhouse. We had 4 floors to explore at the Fordyce which has been restored back to its 1915 appearance.

The Fordyce is the largest and thought to be the most ornate of the bathhouses. It has stained glass skylights and windows, as well as stone fireplaces. The bathhouse is divided into a men's area as well as a women's section. The men's area was deemed to be quite more sumptuous than the facilities for the women.  Pictured below are the steam cabinets for use by the men. It was thought that by using the steam cabinet skin secretions would be stimulated. Besides tub baths and steam cabinets there was a hydrotherapy room which included sun-ray cabinets, frigid cabinets,Sitz baths, sprays, electric baths and so forth. 

The women felt there were not enough tubs for them. One more was added. The first room which we toured in their section is pictured below. Notice the stained glass windows.

The women had a hot pack room as well as a cooling down room, and a state room to rest in afterwards.  Maybe I need to digress here and explain the uniqueness of these waters, as explained in the park's brochure. Rain and snow trickle down the ridges of the Ouachita Mountains. Gravity pulls the water further downward into into the earth's crust. The rock temperature increases with depth and the water emerges from the springs with a temperature of 143 degrees F. When the water reaches a major fault, pressure forces it upward. It is not a volcanic process that creates the hot springs. There are a total of 47 springs in Hot Springs. The water has been analyzed- it has a variety of minerals in the water; silica and calcium are the major ones- as well as free carbon dioxide and oxygen. While bathing the patrons would be given a glass of the water to drink.  And today there are fountains around Hot Springs where one may take a drink or fill up a jug..

Hubbard Tub -for the disabled to be lowered into the waters

Practice of medicine was a bit strange back then. We found a chiropody room in the bathhouse. In the 1930s, people could have their feet massaged, pedicures done as well as corns and bunions removed. In 1936 doctors came up with an electrical massage room which later was converted to a mercury rub room. Needless to say,we saw a few very curious equipment in some of the rooms!

A Body-Encompassing Needle Shower

The "crown jewel" of the Fordyce is the Assembly Room where both sexes could gather and socialize. A grand piano was in this room. The building also had a pool table in the men's parlor.

Assembly Room

Our final stop in the Fordyce was in the basement where we could see the original Fordyce Spring, as well as all the plumbing equipment once used to deliver the water to the bathing rooms. The bathhouse industry went into decline during mid-twentieth century as modern medicine was found to be the better treatment for many illnesses.

 

 

Hot Springs

 The national park of Hot Springs straddles a horseshoe-shaped ridge formed by Sugarloaf Mountain(north),Music Mountain(west), and and North mountains(south). The city of Hot Springs is on its west side. In 1804 a team of two men explored this area and made a report to President Jefferson. In 1832 President A.Jackson signs legislation to establish Hot Springs Reservation In 1820 Arkansas Territory asks Congress to reserve the hot springs for public use. In 1921 the reservation is named a national park. About half of the city of Hot Springs is the national park.

 

The above picture was taken from Hot Springs tower. That tower looms above the national park,offering views for 140-miles in all directions. Taking the tower elevator 12 flights up was one of the first things we did on our first day of visiting Hot Springs.

About a year ago I wrote about Hot Springs and said something to the effect that it did not have much- just a bunch of old bath houses. I was so wrong, which I discovered this time we visited the city. At the visitor's center for the national park we boarded a trolley owned by the park. The trolley conductor gave us a history of the town as he drove us around to see the major sights of the city and park. As seen above, there was a gangster era in the town from the 1920s to the 1940. If you do not know the character above, that is Al Capone. He had a suite on the fourth floor of the prestigious Arlington Hotel for his frequent visits to town. Shortly after we started out the conductor also pointed out an area of town where Jesse James and his gang held up a stagecoach. For more information on the gangster history of the town there is a Hot Springs Gangster Museum. Maybe we will visit the next time we visit the town.

 This picture may seem weird. The town has kept the home plate of Whittington sports field where Babe Ruth hit his first 500-foot-plus home run while playing ball there. The ball went in the direction of the upper right corner of the picture,where the cars are parked. Hot Springs was the birthplace of Major League Baseball Spring Training. Cities that trained their teams here in the spa city were : Brooklyn Jets,Pittsburgh Pirates,Chicago Cubs,and the Boston Red Sox. There is a Historic Baseball Trail in Hot Springs with a lot more information pertaining to this subject. Our driver even slowed the trolley to point out where the old baseball seats can still be seen.

Our driver also drove us around some of the older homes of the town, mostly Victorian in style. We also saw the home where President Clinton attended day care, as well as high school. His childhood home was not on the tour,but with some inquiring around we did find it.

We had about an hour and half trolley tour and learned so much about Hot Springs! I have written here only about a small part of the tour. The bath houses are part of the national park and I will write about them in the next posting

Pottery and Fur Fun

John and I had a delightful time visiting two Arkansas artisans at work. The first place we stopped was Dryden Pottery in Hot Springs. The brochure we had seen regarding that store indicated that visitors could view demos of pottery being made. When we first came to Dryden Pottery place the building seemed quiet and the door locked. We waited a few minutes and soon Zachery Dryden let us in. He looked a bit tired, said he had been ill but would show us around. We thought that very kind of him.

  Very quickly he started making a bowl out of what he called "mud". He explained that the mud was not just any mud, but a combination of materials which included clay. His Grandfather, James Dryden, started Dryden Pottery in Kansas. He later moved the business to Hot Springs because of the clay known to be available there. He was a chemical engineer and figured out what material worked best for making pottery. Zachery is the third generation of Drydens in the business- which makes for a culmination of 75 years in the pottery business for that family. After Zachery finished making the bowl he gave us a tour, showing us his three kilns ,warehouse and the store. The largest of his kilns is pictured below.

 And speaking of large, check out the picture of the "World's Tallest Wheel Thrown Vase".

There are mirrors surrounding the vase, which gives it a three dimensional look,but it is one piece. If I remember correctly, Zachery said his Grandfather made it. His store is filled with many pottery pieces created by all three generations of Drydens. Quite an impressive inventory!

On another day we visited Chez Fur Fiber Farm, located in Malvern Arkansas. This is a working fiber farm of alpacas,sheep and goats. Their fiber is made into yarn which is carded,spun and knitted into cloth products. Bob Schafer, the owner, graciously let us feed and pet his animals.

The goats are pictured above, they were quite anxious for the corn we had in our hands. I did not know that true cashmere comes from kashmir goats. Bob's wife Kim uses all the fiber from the animals of their farm and turns them into finished goods. Bob also makes pottery, and one of their daughters does resin jewelry. After playing with the animals we entered their store which also had a very impressive inventory.

One very interesting story, which Bob told us, I would like to share here with my readers before closing this post. He has two Pyrenees sheep dogs, because of the presence of coyotes in the area. If there is danger present one of the dogs will gather the sheep into one corner of their pen and protect them, while the other will attack the coyote. That is in their natural instincts to react in that manner. He never has to worry about the safety of his animals because of those dogs.

Queen Wilhelmina State Park

 The bad winter weather we were expecting in Hot Springs did come. That was a new experience for   us- to  be residing in a camper trailer and see two inches of snow outside! Our snow-covered car is pictured below. Fortunately most of the snow was gone in another day

We just had one day of sitting around and waiting for things to warm up. One thing John wanted to do, which we could not do a year ago when we were leaving Arkansas, was travel the Talimena National Scenic Byway. At that time the byway, over Rich Mountain,was socked in with fog. John called the park this time and received assurances that it was a clear day for us to make the trip. It was a good 4 hours drive from Hot Springs, so it was necessary to make that call. The park is in western Arkansas,along the Oklahoma state line.

 Halfway through our drive we stopped for lunch at the state park lodge, and took a moment to look at the view. It so happened that the park's small train was coming by at the same time. At the lodge we came to more of an understanding as to how the park happened to be named after Queen Wilhelmina. The first lodge at the park was built in 1898, the time of her inauguration- the lodge was named for her. This was before the land on Rich Mountain became a park, which was in1957. A railroad at the time of the 1890s; the Kansas City Pittsburgh,and Gulf railroad, would stop at the lodge for the comfort of its passengers. That railroad line was financed by Dutch capitalists. Over our lunch break at the lodge we questioned the waitress about the park's connection with the queen. Apparently she wanted to visit the park but never did. The waitress then brought out a scrapbook,kept in lobby of the lodge, which had many articles on the reign of Queen Wilhelmina, as well as the royal family dynasty. I learned later that Arkansas has always, in it's newspapers, kept an interesting fascination with Queen Wilhelmina and all events connected with her. At the time however, I found it puzzling; what did that scrapbook have to do with the park? 

 

After lunch we continued on the scenic byway over Rich Mountain and found many historical markers.  Forget European history, this mountain has a lot to offer in American history! Pictured above is known as the Wonder House, built in 1931 by Carlos Hill and Phil Lance. It is a nine level house, two of the levels in the front and seven in the back section.

Above is a graveyard from the 1800s,which gives testimony to the pioneers who once resided on this mountain. Twenty graves are here, what was written on them is no longer decipherable. Story has it that one little girl, buried here, had gone out on a cold day to get firewood for her family. She was soon surrounded by wolves, so she climbed a tree. Her frozen body was found the next day.

Pictured above is a marker denoting the Oklahoma and Arkansas state lines. A survey  was was completed in 1877, favoring Arkansas. The interpretive sign noted: "only after many months of negotiations would the Choctaw Nation"(located in Oklahoma)" be compensated for the loss of over 136,000 acres". The Native American tribe had been in legal disputes over the land since 1820. We had one last stop before leaving Rich Mountain, the second highest mountain in Arkansas. It is called Sunset Point Vista. Unfortunately it was not that time of day for us!

 

Petit Jean State Park- Part Two

It seemed that everywhere we made a stop in this park we would find an old building.

 This one-room cabin was built in 1845. The second family in it had nine children, but only birthed the first 5 children in it.  We found a brochure regarding the Civil Conservation Corp in the visitor's center which explained the many buildings in the park, of which there are over 80.  The CCC Company V-1781 built or preserved the older ones in the 1930s. They also built other structures, trails and bridges listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

I really wanted to hike down by the Cedar Falls, but it would have been a 2 mile trek- no way we could have time for that!  We had to be satisfied with the overlook trail to see the 95 foot cascading waterfall.  The park has 2,658 acres of natural beauty; there are mountain vistas, springs, unmarred woods and ravines. There are also large rock formations and a rock cave containing pictographs left by Native Americans from the Woodland and Mississippi archeological periods. We found a listing of about 8 different trails which could take us to all those sights.  Not today for us,however. We would just have to plan on coming back!

Dr.Thomas William.Hardison and his family lived here for 50 years. He was the one who discovered the Indian pictographs. He loved the natural beauty of this park and pushed for it to become a national park in the 1940s, but was informed that it was too small.  He was instead encouraged to make it a state park.

 

We ate a very late lunch in the dining room of the lodge. Our table overlooked the Cedar Falls and the canyon surrounding it.  The meal was delicious and the view awesome.  Above is the last picture we took leaving the park. It is called the Palisades- a row of cliffs arising from a deep canyon. We were looking again over the Arkansas River Valley. Off in the distance is the Magazine Mountain range, the highest point in Arkansas. It lies within an extension of the Ozark Mountains.

 

Petit Jean State Park of Arkansas

This state park of Arkansas is located in a unique area between the Ozark and Ouachita Mountain ranges, in the west central part of the state.  It was a bit of a drive for us coming from Hot Springs, and by the time we had arrived half of our day was pretty much shot. So much for doing any hiking, all we could do was get a brief over-view of the park. We needed to do that in order to make any decision as to where our next Lohrmann family reunion would be in another year.

 

Our first stop was an overlook at Stout's Point, located just outside of the park. Here we learned a bit about the history of the surrounding area.  In 1849 William Cummings Stout (Episcopal priest) bought 5,000 acres here which spanned both sides of the Arkansas River.  He built a plantation using slave labor, called Hawstone Plantation; it burned down during the Civil war by Union forces. Stout's Point currently still belongs to the Episcopal Church and has been leased to the state.

Pictured above is the Arkansas River, which we could view off in the distance.  Interpretive signs here mentioned the Trial of Tears and the significance of the river to Native Americans who were forced from their homes out east to Oklahoma reservations.  Some came by boat down the Mississippi then up the Arkansas River through this part of our country.

 Looking down from the overlook we saw Petit Jean's grave, supposedly.  He/she according to legend was the fiance of Chavet a French nobleman.  He wanted to explore the New World and did not want to take his sweetheart along because it would be too dangerous. She, Adrienne DuMont, desperately wanted to join him so she stowed away in his boat as a cabin boy. The crew called her Petit Jean, or little John in English. Chavet arrived in America and he with all of his crew stayed with Native Americans for the summer months.  In autumn Chavet was ready to move on but Petit Jean became ill with a fever. Those caring for her realized she was a woman. She had a brief reunion with Chavet before dying. Many locals feel that her spirit lends enchantment to the mountain. We saw a statue of Petit Jean in the visitor's center of the park.  Please realize that everything written and imagined about her is pure conjecture!   My next notes on this park will be in the next posting.

Spring has sprung in Arkansas

In the Garvan Woodland gardens we found one tulip tree with a few blossoms and some blooming camellis along the Camellia Trail. Unfortunately it is about the end of the blooming season for that plant.

 Along Warren's Woodland Walk, named for the long-time brick mill employee Warren Bankson( he helped Verna Cook Garvan to conceive and build the gardens infrastructure), we saw quite a few azaleas in their budding stage. In a couple of weeks this garden will be awash with spring flowers! However, I was very satisfied with what we did see.

We had no problem finding the hyacinths! Our noses led us right to their heady smell.We also found several patches of pansies.  The striped yellow ones intrigued me, so I had to take a close-up picture of one. I never realized a pansy could be that pretty up close!

I had no clue as to what the purple flower was in the picture below.

 Someone I asked claimed it was a passion flower. She seemed very certain, but my research later said that the passion flower was a blue and white vine type of plant. The picture below is what it looked like when John lifted the flower to look at it more closely.

In the Trap Mountain Overlook part of the garden we found a patch of lilies of the valley,  They also give off a nice floral smell.

 

And below is also another very certain look of spring, a peacock spreading his wings to court his mate who was pacing around near him. They were also found in the gardens.

Searching for signs of Spring

 Last week we traveled south to Arkansas and stayed in a camper trailer.  We had sold our camper a few years ago, since then our daughter and husband purchased a small unit for their use.  Our son-in-law Spencer had driven it down here a couple weeks ago, for his father to use. A couple months ago, when the plans for use of the camper were being made, it sounded wonderful for John and I also to make use of the trailer in Arkansas once it was it was vacated. We would get out of the cold weather of Missouri and experience an early Spring! Sounded good in theory, but several days after we arrived the camper was surrounded by 2 inches of snow, and the temperature was in the mid twenties. We had learned about Garvan Woodland Gardens, near Hot Springs, and planned that as our first excursion out before the bad weather arrived and froze out the plants.   We had made a call to the gardens and learned that there were plenty of plants in bloom at the present time, unfortunately the tulips were just starting to open.

 Shortly after we had arrived at the gardens we hurried over to the daffodil hill looking for the large open areas of blooming plants.  We saw many people involved with the covering of the plants before the freeze which was to come that evening.

 

The colored mesh clothes which you see above were being laid over the flowers, with plastic material later laid on top of them.  I rushed over to the area wanting to scream out "stop, let me look at them first".  But I refrained from doing so and soon discovered that there were still plenty of  blooming plants to been seen.

 

Before going further, I wish to explain these gardens a bit more and how they came about. Verna Cook Garvan inherited the land from her father. He purchased the property in the 1920s for his timber business.  His daughter, upon inheriting the land, had no desire to continue the company after running the brick,tile and lumber business for many years with her husband Patrick Garvan. She saw the future of the beautiful peninsula on the shores of Lake Hamilton as a place to channel her love of gardening and conservancy.  After many years of working toward that goal, and realizing She wanted a garden of a grander scale than she could handle, she signed a trust agreement with the University of Arkansas School of Architecture in 1985.  Consequently, these gardens have many unique and natural settings. 

The Garden of the Pine Woods features a series of pools,waterfalls,walks and bridges designed by Japanese garden designer David Slawson.

Pictured above is the Old Brick Hill from brick manufactured in 1885 and salvaged from the chimney on the old boiler at a lumber company. There is an autumn leaves pattern in which the bricks are laid.

Anthony Chapel

This glass chapel, in the gardens, has a 60-foot high roof with souring columns. The windows are 55 feet tall.  It all seems to so naturally fit in with the soaring trees surrounding the chapel.

Evans Children's Adventure Garden

What a delightful place this is, for children to experience a three-level tree house, a maze of boulders,  and a man-made cave to explore. While they are involved with that, the adults can take in the outstanding lake and woodland views.

Ouachita Mountain Vista

I still have so much more to share with you regarding these gardens, especially many of the blooming spring flowers! My next posting will cover that.

Pictures on Stone

Pictures on Stone is currently an exhibit at the St.Louis Art Museum.  I must admit that I had no clue as to what I would be viewing, possibly just rocks with pictures on them. Surely it is not possible to paint a picture on a rock and then frame it?  Maybe I should give the correct title of this exhibit: "Paintings on Stone:Science and the Sacred 1530-1800".  As I viewed the paintings displayed, it was possible to see the science involved in selecting a rock to paint on, and slicing it down so thin that it could be framed.  This type of art started in the 12th through 15th century, and took off in the 16th century by Venetian painter Sebastaino del Piombo (1485-1547) who came to Rome in 1511 and encountered competition from the painters Raphael and Michelangelo. There were also arguments between Leonardo de Vinci and Michelangelo about whether sculptures or paintings were the superior art form.  So Piombo chose to perfect the art of stone painting, and inspired others to do the same.

 

 

Jesus Teaching Mary and Martha

 

 

 In the exhibit there are 70 examples of stone paintings by 58 artists, featuring 34 different stones.  The picture above was done with oil on slate by Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574). Many of the pictures are of a religious nature, a few were mythological or portraits of people.  In the interpretive signs of some of the Biblical paintings it is noted that the stone support of the picture aids in the religious theme- that of Jesus's role as the cornerstone of the foundation of the church.

Resurrection of Christ

That painting was an oil on agate, artist was Sigismundo Leyrer (1552-1639).  The note on this pointed out that the painter did not need to paint the grave site as the painting had the stone support in the picture.

Portrait of Young Ferdinando Medici

The above painting was done on red porphyry, a type of igneous stone.

Perseus Rescuing Andromeda

In 2000 the art museum purchased the above painting done by artist Cavaliere d'Arpino.  I love the lapsi lazuli stone which provides the blue background for this painting.  It was this acquisition that caused the impetus for Judith Mann, senior curator of European art to 1800 at the museum, to do additional research which created this current exhibit of stone paintings.

Jesuit Church in Antwerp

The above painting, by Wilhelm Ehrenberg, was done in marble and alabaster.   Marble was the most luxurious stone to be used for paintings and it was used sparingly in Northern Europe by artists.

The Nativity was done by the Spanish artist Bartolome Murillo (1617-82).  The reflectivity of obsidian lends a deeper spirituality meaning to the painting, as noted by the art museum.  Aztecs considered the stone sacred; their empire had been conquered by Spain, through colonization of the Americas. 

I hope that I have given you an appetite to see this exhibit, and even if you do not live in St.Louis, it would be worth a few miles or more down the road.  Congratulations to the St. Louis Art Museum for a job well done!