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 for only $356.59 and was the first Reservation drive built
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.
