Fordyce Bath House

The restored Fordyce Bath House is in the middle of Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs and serves as the National Park Service Visitor Center and Museum. It has 23 restored rooms furnished as they appeared during the height of spa popularity. Tours through the building are self-guided with exhibits, films, and displays which tell the story of the hot springs and their use.

It was very interesting, and I found myself transported back to a elaborate, romantic period in history.  I went to the right when I came in, which happened to be the ladies'  side of the building, clearly separated from the men's side of the building on the left. Each side had it's own dressing room with lockers, individual bathtub stalls, cooling down rooms, and various treatment rooms. 

Some of the treatments sounded barbaric and torturous, like the "needle shower" (see Ladies Pack Room photo) or the "electric bath" (see below Hydrotherapy photo and "no known deaths"). Or the "electromassage" and "mercury rub" (see Electromassage photo). Yikes. On the upper floor was a large parlor type "assembly" room where they could both gather after their treatments. And on the very top floor was a gymnasium.

The mosaic tiled floors and stained glass were particularly beautiful.