Everyone is familiar with Yellowstone National Park as the first National Park in America. But, is it possible this information could be wrong? Most of us learned about our National Parks due to our grade school textbooks earlier in our lives. What if what we learned wasn’t the whole story? I am about to share with you some of the most interesting facts’ majority of the American population never knew, on two of America’s oldest National Parks.
We all know Yellowstone National Park as one of the oldest and first American National Parks out there. Yes, Yellowstone was the first federally protected land to be called a national park. But, not the first national park. America’s actual first national park may miss out on credibility due to the fact the area predated what we now call the National Park Service. I’m sure you are wondering by now which National Park could I possibly be describing? That my lovely readers, would be none other than my hometown, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas.
Hot Springs National Park is older than Yellowstone National Park by almost precisely forty years. Almost one hundred years before the National Park Service existed, Hot Springs National Park was actually named Hot Springs Reservation when it first began in 1832. Although one of the smallest National Parks in the nation, Hot Springs National Park has flourished for years. This is because unlike most National Parks where natural resources are protected from public consumption, this National Park has always encouraged the public to come and enjoy the major natural resource which they are famous for: Mineral-rich hot springs.
Anyone who knows of Hot Springs National Park will also be familiar with Bathouse Row. For decades people have traveled from miles around to experience the mystifying healing properties of the hot springs, and they were never disappointed. Each bathhouse on Bathhouse Row have their own pipelines directly connected to the hot springs, rewarding each one their own tap into its wonders. Annual visitors of Bathhouse Row included but are not limited to: The Chicago White Stockings, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, and many other baseball teams who flocked to Hot Springs for spring training from the 1880s to 1940s, soothing their sore muscles at the bathhouses.
Hot Springs National Park and Yellowstone National Park are both infamous for their own unique hot springs and other attributes. Hot Springs National Park is my home, and I will say it’s beauty alone will surpass your expectations. I have personally never traveled to Yellowstone, but since learning the awe-inspiring facts on both my home of Hot Springs National Park and Yellowstone, I can now see a road trip in my near future I surely will not regret. Next time the topic of America’s first National Park comes up in conversation, be sure to inform them of the real yet forgotten story behind who actually existed first.
