Bathhouse Row - Other Features

Other Features

Other outdoor features are within the historic district boundaries. The Grand Promenade runs in a north-south direction on the hillside behind the bathhouses, between Reserve Avenue and Fountain Street. Construction on the promenade began in the 1930s and by the beginning of World War II the promenade was a graded pathway covered with gravel. After many false starts due to planning and funding problems the promenade was finally completed in the early 1960s. The paving brick was replaced in 1984.

Fountains for public use have been located in the vicinity since the area was developed and several remain today. The fountain directly in front of the stairway into the administration building is of cast concrete and was built in 1936. A new jug fountain on the sidewalk in front of the administration building was installed in 1966. The Noble fountain at the Reserve Avenue end of the Promenade moved to this location in 1957. The Maurice Spring fountain and retaining wall just north of the Maurice Bathhouse was completed in 1903.

The original main entrance to the reservation was between the Maurice and Fordyce bathhouses directly below the Stevens Balustrade, at about the center of Bathhouse Row. The two bronze federal eagles on their stone pillars still stand guard over the old entrance, forming a gateway to the concrete path, that leads between the two bathhouses up to the baroque double staircase of the balustrade. Below the eagles are the names of Secretaries of the Interior Hoke Smith (1893–96) and John Noble (1889–93) and "U.S. Hot Springs Reservation."

The balustrade itself is of limestone ashlar masonry and concrete construction. The central bay houses a vaulted hemicycle niche containing a drinking fountain. The upper portion of the balustrade leads to the Promenade. A bandstand was located along the top of the balustrade on the Promenade, but it was removed because of its deteriorated condition in 1958. By the early 1970s curbs and paving at the old main entrance constructed in the 1890s had been changed and Holly trees were planted to border the entryway. The areas around the bases of the stone pillars, originally paved, were grass-covered by that time.

Several other entrances were located at various points along the linear development of Bathhouse Row during the 1890s but have disappeared over the years as a result of newer construction. None were as elaborate as the Main Entrance which still gives a sense of "high style" to Bathhouse Row. Army engineer Stevens was also responsible for establishing the Magnolia Promenade in front of the bathhouses. The Promenade had double rows of magnolias during the 1890s but now a single row separates the sidewalk and the street. The varied architectural styles of the Bathhouses are pulled together by the linear greenbelts of the Magnolia Promenade and the Grand Promenade and by the smaller hedges and bushes that soften the edges of the spaces between the buildings.