U.S. Free Bathhouse, or Government Free Bathhouse was opened in 1878, when the first superintendent of the Hot Springs Reservation, Gen. Benjamin F. Kelley, recognized that large numbers of poor visitors were using a spring known as “Mud Hole.” Kelley had a wooden building erected over the spring, and the building becoming known as the Free Bath House. In 1884, Kelley’s successor, Col. Samuel Hamblen, had the building enlarged to allow female bathers to have a separate pool. Shortly after, the superintendent tore down the building and replaced it with a brick structure. Individual tubs arrived at the building around the turn of the century.

The new brick Government Free Bathhouse opened to the public in 1891. The second story of the Government Free Bathhouse was turned to an Army Physcisin, H.O.Perley, for use as a free dispensary. By 1901, there were eight pools in operation, two each for black women, black men, white women, and white men. In 1903, after continued renovations, the Government Free Bathhouse reopened with tubs, lockers, dressing rooms, cement floors, a small cooling reservoir, and a second cooling tower.

On March 2, 1911, Congress specified that Government Free Bathhouse indigents were allowed free baths only upon making a sworn oath concerning their status and imposed a penalty for any false oath at $25 and/or thirty days in prison. Later regulations by the Government Free Bathhouse’s Rules and Regulations stated that baths could not be supplied except through written application providing proof of indigent status.

The Government Free Bathhouse was demolished in 1922, and rebuilt on Reserve and Spring Streets. Until the mid-twentieth century, the Public Health Service operated clinics in the Government Free Bathhouse. Subjects covered by the Public Health Service included general and personal hygiene, operation of the bath, first aid, and ethics.

At the close of business on March 22, 1957, the Government Free Bathhouse closed its doors for the nine-month conversion to a physical medicine center.  The Hot Springs National Park Physical Medicine Center, Inc., opened in 1958. As a tribute to Superintendent Donald S. Libbey, the facility was renamed the “Libbey Memorial Physical Medicine Center” at a ceremony on October 2, 1960.

Credits and Sources:

Cockrell, Ron. “The Hot Springs of Arkansas—America’s First National Park: Administrative History of Hot Springs National Park.” National Park Service. Accessed June 15, 2015.

Shugart, Sharon. “The Hot Springs of Arkansas Through The Years: A Chronology Of Events -Excerpts-.” Department of the Interior, 2004. http://www.nps.gov/hosp/learn/historyculture/upload/chronology.web.pdf. (accessed June 15, 2015).

Quinn Evans Architects, Mundus Bishop Design, and Woolpert, Inc. Hot Springs National Park, Cultural Landscape Report and Environmental Assessment. National Park Service, 2010.