HOT SPRINGS, Arkansas — The Fordyce on Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs National Park turns 100 this year. Bathhouse Row, with eight historic bathhouses, is a National Historic Landmark District.
The Fordyce opened March 1, 1915. Owner Colonel Samuel Fordyce spent more than $200,000 dollars to build the facility, which became known as the most luxurious bathhouse in the city at the time. President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the Fordyce in 1936 when he came to Hot Springs to celebrate the Arkansas Centennial.
The Fordyce closed in 1962 and was reopened as the park’s visitor center in the late 1980s with exhibits on the thermal bathing industry.
