Castle Hot Springs Arizona Palm House 1908

Castle Hot Springs is a recently restored historic resort in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

that is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. It is located within the

Hieroglyphic Mountains The Hieroglyphic Mountains are a mountain range located in central Arizona. The Hieroglyphics roughly straddle the border between Maricopa and Yavapai counties and form an effective physical barrier northwest of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. Du ...

History

The

Apache Wars The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache tribal confederations fought in the southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. After the Mexic ...

discouraged development of the area until the 1880s when the springs and the adjacent land were purchased by Frank Murphy for the construction of a

health resort A destination spa or health resort is a resort centered on a spa, such as a mineral spa. Historically, many such spas were developed at the location of natural hot springs or mineral springs; in the era before modern biochemical knowledge and ...

. The resort was completed in 1896 by the brother of the Arizona Governor

Oakes Murphy Nathan Oakes Murphy (October 14, 1849 – August 22, 1908) was the tenth and fourteenth Governor of Arizona Territory. As well as the territory's delegate to the House of Representatives. Born in Jefferson, Maine to Benjamin F. Murphy and Luc ...

, and the newly renamed "Castle Hot Springs" was heavily advertised to potential clients. During the resort's heyday in the 1920s it was visited by celebrities such as

Zane Grey Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontie ...

, as well as famous families such as the

Rockefellers The Rockefeller family () is an American industrial, political, and banking family that owns one of the world's largest fortunes. The fortune was made in the American petroleum industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries by brot ...

. The resort was used by the United States military as a rehabilitation center from 1943 to 1944 to treat injured veterans of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Future president

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

spent three months at the resort during this period to recover from his wounds suffered during the sinking of his ship,

PT-109 PT1 may refer to: * 486958 Arrokoth (New Horizons PT1), a Kuiper belt object and selected target for a flyby of the New Horizons probe * Pratt & Whitney PT1, a free-piston gas-turbine engine * Consolidated PT-1 Trusty, a 1930s USAAS primary trainer ...

. The resort continued to be commercially operated until the main building was heavily damaged in a fire in 1976. The resort still comprises its swimming pool, administrative building and guest house along with the springs, which produce 180,000 gallons of hot water a day. The resort became a stop on the short-line

Arizona and California Railroad The Arizona and California Railroad is a class III short line railroad that was a subdivision of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF). The ARZC began operations on May 9, 1991, when David Parkinson of the ParkSierra RailGroup purchas ...

in the 1990s. The property was sold in March 2014 for $1.95 million. In March 2018, the resort announced a restoration was underway with plans for reopening in October of that year. The new owners have extensively remodeled and added to the property, adding 12 spring bungalows - with hot spring fed tubs, and 17 sky-view cabins. The resort reopened to visitors in February 2019.

In media

Castle Hot Springs Resort was the subject of a 1994 documentary film by Mike Smith and a fellow student.

References

External links

Castle Hot Springs
– ghosttowns.com
Castle Hot Springs – Jewel of the Bradshaws!
(December 31, 2011), from SonoranTreeSvc.com
Castle Hot Springs
at DailyJFK.com
Castle Hot Springs Resort
New Castle Hot Springs website for rebuilt resort {{coord, 33.98275, -112.3619, display=title Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Arizona Hot springs of Arizona Ghost towns in Arizona Bodies of water of Yavapai County, Arizona National Register of Historic Places in Yavapai County, Arizona

History

In media

See also

References

Further reading

External links