TIMELINE OF FORDYCE BATHHOUSE
(from The Hot Springs of Arkansas: Through the Years)
1899: Sam Fordyce completed the Little Rock, Hot Springs and Western railroad from Little Rock to Hot Springs.
1913: The Palace Bathhouse closed on December 31st and was immediately razed to make way for the Fordyce Bathhouse.
1914: Excavation of the reservoir at the Fordyce Bathhouse site began in March and was completed in April.
1915: In March, Fordyce Bathhouse, built and equipped at a cost of over $200,000, opened on the 1st.
1931-1932: Col. John R. Fordyce offered to donate 80 acres of land to the government.
1935: Col. J.R. Fordyce donated land to the park, increasing the park's size to approximately 1009 acres.
1936: In June, President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the park on the 10th; during this visit, he toured Fordyce Bathhouse and inspected other bathhouses along the row.
1939: In June, Col J.R. Fordyce died in the Army-Navy General Hospital on the 9th after suffering a heart attack on May 26.
1936: Fordyce Bathhouse, following a recommendation in the Environmental Health Survey Report, enclosed the display springs in their basements with half-inch glass without venting.
1958: In September, the Fordyce Bathhouse was authorized by the owners to be put up for sale for $175,000.
1962: On June 30th, the Fordyce Bathhouse closed.
1987: Bathhouse Row was named a National Historic Landmark District.
1988: In May, the newly restored Fordyce Bathhouse opened as the Hot Springs National Park visitor center.