GCHS Holdings - A Quick Look
Library and other research media
- Book and periodical library dedicated to the history and prehistory of the city of Hot Springs, Garland County, surrounding counties, and Arkansas state history (see Library)
- Vertical file of over 80 linear feet containing clippings, photocopies, and other ephemera covering hundreds of locally pertinent topics (see Vertical File)
- Microfilm library including Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, newspapers, and vital records
- Digital files of photographs, maps, and other documents
Demographic and governmental records and data for Garland County (see Vital Records)
- County Census records through 1930
- Original death records, 1898-1923
- Marriage records
- Birth records, 1926 - 1958
- Jail register, 1890s
- Early city police dockets
- Funeral home and cemetery records, tombstone inscriptions, obituaries
- City directories, 1887 to present, and telephone directories, 1903 to present
Primary documents
- Maps: city, township, county, state, Hot Springs National Park, topographical, geological, fire insurance, street and highway, survey, and plat (see Maps)
- Over 30,000 photographs, stereographs, and other visual media, 1867 to present (see Photographs)
- Many newspapers pertaining to this area from 1876 to the present
- Letters and postcards
- Scrapbooks, diaries, and photographic albums (see Dodson Room)
Document Collections
- Compendium of material on the Arkansas State Fair at Hot Springs
- Military records and related data, from the Civil War to the wars in the Middle East, including
- Myron Townsend World War I scrapbooks
- 223rd Combat Communications Squadron Collection
- The Audrey Wenger McCully Collection - the Public Health Service’s role at Hot Springs Reservation/National Park, in particular that of Dr. Oscar Wenger
Archival Collections (records accumulated over time by individuals, families, businesses, or institutions)
- Personal archives that document the life of an individual or a family, including
- “The Papers of Marcus Phillips” - his research into old trail locations, maps, and myths and legends about American Indians.
- Sally Rector-Hain family archive
- The John Lonsdale Collection
- Frederick W. Cron Collection
- Mayor Floyd Houseley Collection
- Business archives that create a long-term record of organizations
including hotels, bathhouses, hospitals, schools, churches, civic organizations, such as
- Chamber of Commerce
- Arkansas State Fair (at Hot Springs) Collection
- Garden Club Collection
- Music Club Collection