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History · Hot Springs

Hot Springs dates to 1828, and 5 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Hot Springs was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 14 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1890.

1828founded
5on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hot Springs’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hot Springs began

When was Hot Springs founded?

1828

Hot Springs dates its founding to 1828 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 695 in 18902020 census: 520198 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1801.The full story ↓

What stands out about Hot Springs’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Deep rootsEstablished in 1828: 198 years of Hot Springs.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Timeline

Hot Springs, 1801 to 1935

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1801Post officeThe Warm Springs post office opens
  3. 1828
    FoundingHot Springs is established
  4. 1875BuiltSunnybank is built
  5. 1886Post officeThe Warm Springs post office closes
  6. 1886Post officeThe Hot Springs post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1900BuiltDorland Memorial Presbyterian Church is built
  9. 1902In the archiveMountain Park Hotel
  10. 1917In the archiveEnemy Activities - Miscellaneous - Internment camp for Germans. Hot Springs, North Caroli…
  11. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the National Register

5 listings protect 21 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
21
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Sunnybank
Sunnybank, built 1875Dorland Memorial Presbyterian Church, built 1900Henry Ottinger HouseHot Springs Historic DistrictEllerson, William R. House
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Italianate Revival1
Village Church1
Greek Revival1
Commercial Style1
Queen Anne1
Bungalow/Craftsman1
SunnybankItalianate Revival · Built 1875
Dorland Memorial Presbyterian ChurchVillage Church · Built 1900
All 5 listings
Henry Ottinger HouseBuilding · listed 1986Hot Springs Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2009Ellerson, William R. HouseBuilding · listed 2018

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Hot Springs came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hot Springs.

Read it all →

Hot Springs is located at the confluence of the French Broad River and Spring Creek. A natural thermal spring is located there, the only hot spring known in North Carolina and in much of the southeastern United States. Thus, this area has long been a destination for those looking for therapeutic relief from their ailments. Native Americans were the first to discover and use the 108 °F (42 °C) mineral waters, and European immigrants settled the area over 200 years ago. It is reported that people were visiting the springs by 1778 for the waters' reported healing properties.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Hot Springs, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s5 items
Mountain Park Hotel1902Mountain Park HotelMountain Park Hotel1902Mountain Park HotelAcross the French Broad near Hot Springs, N.C1902Across the French Broad near Hot Springs, N.COn the French Broad near Hot Springs, N.C1902On the French Broad near Hot Springs, N.CEnemy Activities - Miscellaneous - Internment camp for Germans. Hot Springs, North Carolina. A beautiful river forms th…1917Enemy Activities - Miscellaneous - Internment camp fo…
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Hot Springs on the map, 1935 to 1991

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hot Springs. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Hot Springs on the 1935 USGS mapHot Springs on the 1940 USGS mapHot Springs on the 1991 USGS map1935Hot Springs sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hot Springs.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Mountain Park Hotel
Retake this viewMountain Park Hotel, 1902

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hot Springs’ page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Hot Springs, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 773

Between 443 and 773 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hot Springs’ Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Hot Springs’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, Warm Springs, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Warm Springs
1801–1886
Hot Springs
1886–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Shaleville
1cemetery inside Hot Springs
Odd Fellows

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Hot Springs’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMountain Park Hotel: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Hot Springs’ history

What year was Hot Springs founded?

In 1828, according to Wikidata. Hot Springs’ post office opened in 1801, and the census of 1890 counted 695 people here.

What is on the National Register in Hot Springs?

5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Sunnybank (listed 1980, the first), and 1 historic district, the Hot Springs Historic District, with 14 contributing buildings. 21 historic buildings in all.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.