Hot Springs National Park was the first reservation of land for public use by the U. S. Government and in April, 2007, celebrated its 175th anniversary. Bathhouses started becoming a part of the growing Hot Springs landscape in the early 1800s and the government saw the need to protect the thermal waters for future generations. By the 1880s the bathhouses in Hot Springs rivaled those in the spas of Europe. The Quapaw was completed in 1922 as the moderately priced bathhouse with none of the extras such as beauty parlors. Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs National Park was named a National Historic Landmark in 1974. The Quapaw was last operated by Health Services, Inc. in 1984.
The Quapaw Bathhouse is a Spanish Colonial Revival style building of masonry and reinforced concrete finished with stucco. The most impressive exterior feature is the large central dome covered with brilliantly colored mosaic tiles and capped with a small copper cupola. Directly above the entrance is a cartouche with a carved Indian head set into the decorative double-curved parapet. The Indian motif, found throughout the building, was used to reinforce a legend, which claimed that the Indians had discovered the magical healing powers of the spring and cave now housed in the building’s basement. The interior of the building contains approximately 24,000 square feet.
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