The hot spring water has been popularly believed for centuries to possess healing properties, and was a subject of legend among several Native American tribes.

Incorporated January 10, 1851, the city has been home to Major League Baseball spring training, illegal gambling, speakeasies and gangsters such as Al Capone, horse racing at Oaklawn Park, the Army and Navy Hospital, and 42nd President Bill Clinton.

Due to the popularity of the thermal waters, Hot Springs benefited from rapid growth during a period when many cities saw a sharp decline in building—much like Miami's art deco districts.

Members of many Native American tribes had been gathering in the valley for untold numbers of years to enjoy the healing properties of the thermal springs.

Twelve years later, in 1832, the Hot Springs Reservation was created by the United States Congress, granting federal protection of the thermal waters.

Their roster contained Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston and Judy Johnson.

On their roster were numerous Hall of Fame players: Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Jud Wilson, Bill Foster, Judy Johnson, Smokey Joe Williams, Willie Wells and Cum Posey.

Boston Red Sox' pitcher Babe Ruth hit a long Home Run into the Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo that altered the course of baseball history.

In the opening exhibition game against Brooklyn at Whittington Park, Ruth (coming off a 24–13 season) was a last-minute replacement at first base, his first time at a position other than pitcher.

[20] In 1952, an 18-year old Hank Aaron played in the Negro American League championship for the Indianapolis Clowns against the Birmingham Black Barons at Majestic Park.

Produced by Arkansas filmmaker Larry Foley, it is narrated by Hot Springs area native, actor Billy Bob Thornton.

[33] Illegal gambling became firmly established in Hot Springs during the decades following the Civil War, with two factions, the Flynns and the Dorans, fighting one another throughout the 1880s for control of the town.

[citation needed] Along with Bathhouse Row, one of downtown Hot Springs' most noted landmarks is the Arlington Hotel, a favored retreat for Al Capone.

The period 1927–1947 was its wagering pinnacle, with no fewer than ten major casinos and numerous smaller houses running wide open, the largest such operation in the United States at the time[citation needed].

[citation needed] Local law enforcement was controlled by a political machine run by long-serving mayor Leo McLaughlin.

Although the former mayor and most of the others were acquitted, the machine's power was broken and gambling came to a halt, as McMath led a statewide "GI Revolt" into the governor's office in 1948.

Buoyed into 12 years in office by his popular defiance of federal court desegregation orders, Faubus turned a blind eye to gambling in Hot Springs.

The hospital also trained dentists, surgeons, and pharmacists, and housed the first enlisted medical technician school for the Women's Army Corps.The grounds contained a kitchen and living quarters for nurses and physicians.

Studies by National Park Service scientists have determined through radiocarbon dating that the water that reaches the surface in Hot Springs fell as rainfall 4,400 years earlier.

It emerges from the tunnel south of Bathhouse Row then flows through the southern part of the city before emptying into Lake Hamilton, a reservoir on the Ouachita River.

Venues for live music are Low Key Arts, Maxine's, The Ohio Club, The Big Chill, and the Arlington Hotel among many others.

Superlift Offroad Vehicle Park hosts the annual Ouachita Jeep Jamboree, an off-road adventure weekend that draws people and their 4x4's from a dozen states.

[61] Founded by the daughter of a lumber and brick magnate in 1985, the 210-acre (85 ha) botanical garden on Arkridge Road features native Ouachita Mountains flora among rocky streams and waterfalls.

The Fordyce-Ricks House Historic District at 1501 Park Avenue includes three buildings on 37 acres (15 ha) formerly owned by Samuel W. Fordyce, a prominent businessman and railroad executive who moved to Hot Springs in 1876.

[61] The Pleasant Street Historic District along Malvern Avenue (colloquially "Black Broadway") contains 93 contiguous buildings associated with the city's African American community.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, his half-brother Roger, and Billy Bob Thornton, all Hot Springs natives, have frequented Oaklawn Park.

In mid-April, its final week sees the "Racing Festival of the South", concluding with the Arkansas Derby, which has drawn many Triple Crown contenders.

As a body, the board is the prime executive branch of Hot Springs government whose duties include making policy, creating a budget, and passing resolutions and ordinances.

Arkansas Highway 128 (Carpenter Dam Road) branches off US-270 Business in southeastern Hot Springs, leading south 4 miles (6 km) to Red Oak.

All routes are based at the city's Transportation Depot in downtown Hot Springs, and operate six days a week; Sundays and six annual holidays are excluded.