GCHS Holdings

As an archive, we concentrate on preserving (and providing for research) paper-based historical materials. Many of these photographs and documents have been digitized. Our in-house catalog system provides an easy research tool to explore specific topics of interest. Our web SEARCH lets a researcher explore the topics in our annual publication, The Record, and in our nearly 6,000 Vertical Files.

Library

The Garland County Historical Society maintains a research library specializing in Garland County and Arkansas history. Available to researchers are materials on a wide-ranging list of subjects in categories including but not limited to:

  • Bound books from biographies to government reports and journals
  • Some local school yearbooks
  • County, church, family histories
  • Some funeral company, cemetery, birth, and death records
  • Microfilm copies of local newspapers and some other public records

Photographs

With over 30,000 images, the Garland County Historical Society maintains the largest group of Garland County photographs in existence. Many of these can be located quickly on our in-house searchable catalog of digitized photos.

From 1870s stereographs by photographer J. F. Kennedy to images of current happenings, our images document the people, places, and events in our area. View Photo Gallery.

Vertical Files

Newspaper clippings, family histories, advertisements, programs, booklets, reports—every kind of paper ephemera is preserved in our vertical files. We have information about people, places, organizations, businesses, and other features of Hot Springs/Garland County’s geography, culture, and communities.

Added to constantly, the vertical files are a treasure trove of information.

To search the folder titles of the vertical files, go to SEARCH on our home page.

Maps

Spanning some 175 years, the Garland County Historical Society map collection offers a unique insight into the history of our county. Some of the topics documented in our map collection include land claims, geological and topographical features, Hot Springs streets and buildings, and Sanborn fire insurance maps.

Artifacts and Objects

Although we are an archive specializing in paper and digital-based research materials, we have a small collection of three-dimensional artifacts and objects related to the history of Garland County. Representative objects can be viewed in the three display cases in our reception area.