Page 21 - The Springs Magazine July Issue 2018

The Springs • July 2018 • 21
Hot Springs Mountain

Tower Celebrates 35th

Anniversary

Hot Springs Mountain,
located in Hot Springs National
Park, has been home to three
observation towers over the
last 141 years. The first was
an 80-foot-high wooden
observatory kept by Horace
Woolman in 1877 and Enoch
Woolman in the 1880s.
It was an immediate
sensation and featured in the
January 1878 issue of Harper’s
Monthly Magazine.
Visitors who climbed
the mountains and went up the
narrow wooden steps to the
tower’s platform were rewarded
with a breath-taking view, said
to encompass thirty miles. A
permanently mounted telescope
further enhanced the viewing.
The first Hot Springs
Reservation superintendent,
General Benjamin F. Kelley,
requested that Secretary of the
Interior Carl Schurtz allow him
a small sum to build a carriage
road up to the tower.
The drive was
completed in October 1879 Visitors to Hot Springs Mountain Tower can take
an elevator or climb the steps to the top observa-
for only $356.59 and was the tion deck where they are treated to a breathtaking
first Reservation drive built panoramic view of the Hot Springs area.
primarily for visitor enjoyment.
It linked Reserve Street with the tower, which remained a popular tourist attraction
until a lightning strike burned it to the ground sometime between 1885 and 1895.
It was 1903 before the Secretary of the Interior leased the site for the second tower.
Captain Charles N. Rix, president-elect of the Hot Springs Chamber of
Commerce and president of the Arkansas National Bank, visited the St. Louis
World’s Fair in 1903. There he observed a Marconi wireless tower, constructed of
steel. Rix thought a similar tower would be an excellent addition to Hot Springs
Mountain.
By May 22, 1903, the Department of the Interior had approved plans for
a similar tower to be constructed on Hot Springs Mountain. Called the Hot Springs
Mountain Observatory or the Rix Tower, the tower opened on May 4, 1906. Forty-
one square feet of concrete embedded in solid rock formed the structure’s base.
The 165-foot-tall tower boasted a small Otis elevator, but visitors that were
more adventurous could instead climb the circular staircase of 188 steps to the
platform on top, furnished with a high-power telescope for even better viewing.
The years took their toll on the Rix Tower. The tower was finally declared
unsafe, and on July 13, 1971, the popular tourist attraction was taken down in one
piece and dismantled.
In 1982, a ground-breaking ceremony was held at what is now called
the Hot Springs Mountain Tower, which opened for visitors on June 3, 1983.
Constructed of latticed steel, the observatory has two high-speed elevators that take
visitors to two observation decks.
Four high-powered telescopes offer panoramic views to a distance of
140 miles and beyond. In June 2018, the National Park Service and Hot Springs
Mountain Tower celebrated the 35th anniversary of the opening of the Mountain
Tower.
The lower deck features a circular exhibit area to tell the history of both
the city of Hot Springs and Hot Springs National Park. Still in operation today, the
observatory attracts well over 200,000 visitors a year.
A retail shop on the first floor has a variety of mementos of the area. A
concession of Hot Springs National Park, the tower is currently in operation by the
Hot Springs Mountain Tower, LLC.
For more information, visit www.hotspringstower.com, Facebook: Hot
Springs Mountain Tower, or call 501-881-4020.