As the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program begins, the first quarter's subject is Hot Springs National Park. This park is most famous for its 47 hot springs (springs of water that flow out of Hot Springs Mountain at more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit).
Before these springs became part of the first national site in 1832, American Indians knew about and visited the site. Prehistoric quarries where they gathered rock can still be found in the area.
In 1804, while Lewis and Clark were still exploring the northwest, President Thomas Jefferson sent the Dunbar-Hunter Expedition to the springs. The rivers leading into this part of Arkansas were in the newly-acquired land of Louisiana, largely unexplored and unmapped by the United States.
As time passed, a bustling town grew up around the hot springs, where visitors could bathe in the healthful, warm waters. Hot Springs was established as a national site in order to protect the springs and to make sure that the water was always available for people to drink and bathe in.
The image on the back of the quarter shows the entrance to the Headquarters building at Hot Springs National Park. The hot water that flows from the fountain near the doors comes from the springs.
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