Hot Springs (Big Bend National Park)

Hot Springs
Hot Springs cabins
Location W of Rio Grande Village, Big Bend National Park, Texas
Coordinates 29°10′39″N 102°59′55″W / 29.17750°N 102.99861°WCoordinates: 29°10′39″N 102°59′55″W / 29.17750°N 102.99861°W
Area 115 acres (47 ha)
Built 1909
Governing body Federal
NRHP Reference # 74000278[1]
Added to NRHP September 17, 1974

Hot Springs, also known as Boquillas Hot Springs, is a former resort in what is now Big Bend National Park in Texas. They were developed by J.O. Langford from 1909. Langford was a Mississippi native who had contracted malaria as a child. Searching for a cure, he heard of reputedly curative hot springs on the Rio Grande while visiting Alpine, Texas. Langford made a homestead claim, sight unseen. Although other homestead claims on the site had failed, Langford, his wife Bessie and his 18-month-old daughter set out for the site, discovering that it was already occupied by Cleofas Natividad with his wife and ten children. Initially considering the Natividads squatters, the Langfords developed a cooperative relationship with the Natividads. J.O. took a 21-day treatment of drinking and bathing in the spring waters, regaining his health.[2]

The site was the first major tourist attraction in the area, predating the establishment of the national park. Before the Langford's development, a small stone tub had been excavated in the local stone for bathing, with a dugout that was renovated by the Langfords as a residence. The Langfords later built an adobe house, a stone bathhouse, and brushwood bathing shelters. The Langfords left in 1912 when bandits made the area unsafe. When they returned in 1927 they rebuilt the bathhouse, but with a canvas roof. They also built a store and a motor court, consisting of seven attached cabins.[3]

The structures were built of local stone with wood trussed roofs covered with corrugated metal. Interior walls were plastered. Four of the motor court rooms featured painted murals. A terrace was covered with a long porch or ramada connecting the cabins.[3]

The historic district includes petrogylphs left by native American visitors. The springs were visited by Pedro de Rábago y Terán in 1747, who found Apaches farming the area. In later years the Comanche Trail passed nearby.[4] The hot springs remain, at a temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit, and may be used for soaking.[2] The spring is frequently submerged by the Rio Grande. The site is accessible by unpaved road, about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Rio Grande Village, otherwise known as Boquillas.[5]

Hot Springs was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 17, 1974.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Hot Springs". National Park Service. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Battle, David G. (February 1974). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Hot Springs". National Park Service. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  4. ↑ Brune, Gunnar. "Boquillas Hot Springs". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  5. ↑ "Take a Soak in the Hot Springs". Retrieved 31 October 2011.

External links