Welcome to Hot Spring County...
Hot Spring County Courthouse

Hot Spring County was established by an act of the territorial legislature in 1829 with land taken from Clark County. Located southeast of the Ouachita National Forest, Hot Spring County is bisected by the Ouachita River and includes landforms ranging from mountains to lowlands once covered in hardwood and pine forests. The combination of rock types and fault lines is responsible for the hot spring that provides the name for the county. This county, located in the southwest region of the state, has a diverse economy based on timber, manufacturing, mining, and agriculture (corn, cotton, and some rice).

Ironically, the spring for which Hot Spring County is named is no longer within the county limits. Garland County was created in April 1873 in response to complaints from the citizens of the city of Hot Springs about the difficult trip to the county seat, which was then Rockport. As a result, both the city of Hot Springs and the springs themselves (except for one near Magnet Cove) are no longer found in Hot Spring County.

The county’s mineral resources include iron, novaculite, titanium, barite, clay, and lignite. Magnet Cove got its name from the magnetic-iron-ore deposits that sent compasses spinning in the 1880s. There are forty-two distinct mineral species and mineral combinations in Magnet Cove, some of which are found only in Magnet Cove, the Ural Mountains, and the Tyrolean Alps.

 

The spring at Magnet Cove is set on the eastern edge of a series of outcroppings of novaculite that act like a sponge, soaking rainwater deep into the earth. Along the path of slow percolation, the water is enriched—and heated—by dissolved minerals in the rocks. After the water encounters the faults deep within the earth, it emerges quickly to the surface, maintaining much of its stored heat. The novaculite of the area has provided a major source for knife-sharpening whetstones and was mined from the 1880s to the 1970s.

Neighboring Counties:
Clark Montgomery Garland Pike
Dallas Saline Grant  
 
 



Hot Spring County Clerk, 210 Locust St., Malvern, AR 72104-379, Phone: 501 332-229
Hello, my name is Jeff Kemp and I'm the county coordinator for Hot Spring County.

 

© 1996, ARGenWeb Project, All rights reserved. Contents my be used with electronic or written permission only. Last Edited: 12/24/23


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