Hot Springs, North Carolina,
a resort destination since the early 1800s, has long been renowned
for its healing mineral springs and scenic mountain setting. Native
Americans were the first to discover the 100-plus degree mineral
water from which the Town of Hot Springs received its name. Traders
from the colonies came next, and by 1778 the lame and the sick
were traveling over the mountains to the hot springs for the healing
waters. On March 19, 1791, William Nelson bought the hot springs
property for "two hundred pounds in Virginia currency"
and began catering to the visitors.
Buncombe Turnpike was completed along the French Broad River through
Hot Springs (called Warm Springs at the time) in 1828, connecting
Tennessee and Kentucky to the east coast. It was the superhighway
of the South at the time. Farmers drove thousands of horses, cattle,
hogs, and other livestock to markets in Charleston and Augusta
on the Turnpike and stopped in Hot Springs to take the waters
along the way.
Recognizing the potential for tourism, James
Patton of Asheville, bought the springs in 1831 and by 1837 had
built the 350-room Warm Springs Hotel with thirteen tall columns
commemorating the first colonies. Because of it size and grandeur,
it was called Patton's White House. Its dining room could seat
600.
The next owner was James H. Rumbough, a stage coach operator,
who bought the springs in 1862. In the hotel's ballroom, second
largest in the state, Frank Johnson, son of President Andrew Johnson,
met his bride, Bessie Rumbough, daughter of the hotel owner.
The railroad reached the village in 1882,
and it was necessary for Rumbough to enlarge his hotel. Two years
later the hotel burned, and the springs and much of the town were
sold to the Southern Improvement Company, a northern syndicate.
The Mountain Park Hotel was built in 1886,
and a higher-temperature spring was discovered, prompting the
company to change the town's name from Warm Springs to Hot Springs.
The Mountain Park was one of the most elegant resorts in the country
during its heyday. It consisted of the 200-room hotel, a barn
and stables, a spring house, and a bath house of sixteen marble
pools, surrounded by landscaped lawns with croquet and tennis
courts. The Mountain Park Hotel established the first organized
golf club in the Southeast with a nine-hole course.
By May 1917, however, fewer and fewer people
were taking the waters, and the Mountain Park Hotel and grounds
were leased to the federal government as an internment camp for
hundreds of German merchant sailors captured in U.S. harbors when
war was declared. The internees were treated well by the townspeople,
and several returned to visit after the war.
When the war ended, the Mountain Park Hotel
never regained its former glory. The hotel burned in 1920, never
to be rebuilt. Two other hotels were built on the grounds of the
springs during the next forty years, but neither were as grand
as the Warm Springs Hotel or the Mountain Park. Both of these
smaller hotels also succumbed to fire, and the Town of Hot Springs
was nearly forgotten as a tourist destination.
Today, Hot Springs is again a haven for
those seeking a relaxing and healthful mountain retreat. Outdoor
recreation abounds. Hikers can explore some of the scenic stretches
of the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which runs down the main
street of Town before crossing the French Broad River and climbing
back onto the ridgetops. Rafters can shoot the rapids on the French
Broad River. Mountain bikers can wind along wooded paths to open
meadows with commanding views of the surrounding peaks. Those
seeking time for relaxation can simply savor the area's breathtaking
scenery while soaking in hot mineral baths in secluded outdoor
tubs at the reopened Hot Springs Spa.
Reference: The German Invasion of
Western North Carolina, written by historian Jacqueline Burgin
Painter (Biltmore Press, Asheville, NC 1992).
