Hot Springs declared a City – August 11, 1876.
Garland County students aged 18 and younger are being invited to help celebrate Hot Springs’ 150th birthday by entering an essay contest on their thoughts about the city’s future.
The author of the winning essay will receive a $150 cash prize courtesy of the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance and will be invited to read their winning entry at the Hot Springs 150th Birthday Gala at the Hot Springs Convention Center on August 11.
Hot Springs’ 150th Birthday Gala will include a cocktail reception and formal banquet held in Horner Hall at the Convention Center. Funds generated by the celebration will be given to the Garland County Historical Society (GCHS). A special commemorative coin is being created for those who attend.
Students who are residents of Garland County are invited to submit an original essay of 300 words or less on one of two topics: “My Future for Hot Springs” or “My Vision for Hot Springs.”
The essays must be submitted as a PDF attachment to an email sent to 150essay@hotsprings.org. The deadline for entries to arrive is 11:59 p.m. on Friday, July 31. The emailed entry must contain the PDF attachment, the student’s name, age, grade in school, their school, the student’s mailing address and phone number, plus a parent’s or guardian’s name and phone number. In addition to the $150 prize, the winning essayist will receive four tickets to the Birthday Gala.
“The gala will celebrate the date of August 11, 1876, when the town of Hot Springs was officially incorporated with a formal government, a mayor, aldermen, city ordinances and police and fire departments,” said Mayor Pat McCabe.
McCabe said research provided by Liz Robbins, executive director of the Historical Society, indicates that an earlier incorporation of the town of Hot Springs in the early 1800s did not establish a formal government structure, and that little town had burned down by the end of the Civil War. The town that was rebuilt was formally established in 1876, according to Robbins.
Tables for eight are $1,000. Purchase of a table seating eight will come with a special commemorative coin created especially for the event for each person attending. Tickets for tables are available at https://hotsprings.swoogo.com/150thbirthdaygala/12200975.
Individual tickets are $125 each and may be obtained by contacting the Garland County Historical Society at 501-321-2159.
Cocktail attire is suggested for the event, which will begin with a reception from 6 to 7 p.m. Dinner will be served starting at 7 p.m.
“The Garland County Historical Society is very grateful to be the beneficiary of this fundraiser,” Robbins said. “The funds raised will help us preserve Hot Springs history and make its pictures and stories easily accessible to people now and in the future.”
GCHS provided this timeline on the origin of the City of Hot Springs:
- As a town, Hot Springs is thought of in two versions/incarnations: the little town that grew up from the early 1800s and burned by the end of the Civil War (1865), and the town that rebuilt after the Civil War. Each one was incorporated.
- Only the second incorporation in 1876 established a town government, with a mayor and aldermen; the first city ordinances were created, and the first police and fire departments were formed.
- April 5, 1876, County Judge J. W. Jordan certified a petition (signed by 467 residents) calling for the city to be incorporated.
- May 22, 1876, I. W. Carhart elected first mayor.
- August 11, 1876, Governor Augustus H. Garland signed a petition declaring Hot Springs a city.
- January 18, 1879, Hot Springs is declared a City of the First Class.
For more information, call Bill Solleder at 501-321-2027.
