HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
+ 1 further entry on record
The only brewery inside a U.S. National Park — a 1916 bathhouse that closed for 30 years and kept some company.
329 Central Ave, Hot Springs, AR 71901
Research updated August 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Brewery and restaurant pricing. Separate after-hours ghost hunt tickets through Hot Springs Ghost Hunt. See website for current rates.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Single-story 1916 bathhouse; flat accessible entry on Central Ave. Basement boiler room requires stairs.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1916 · Hot Springs National Park Bathhouse Row · National Register of Historic Places · First Brewery in a U.S. National Park · 1916 Edwardian Bathhouse Architecture
Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs National Park is a mile-long corridor of Edwardian and Beaux-Arts bathhouses built between 1912 and 1923 to commercialize the city's documented thermal springs. The federal government assumed management of the springs in the early 20th century, and the eight bathhouses on the Row operated under federal leases.
The Superior Bathhouse opened in 1916, smaller and less elaborate than its neighbors but functional for the standard thermal bathing treatments the Row offered. Like most of the Row, it went through cycles of prosperity and decline as thermal bathing's popularity waned after World War II. The Superior closed in 1983 and sat vacant for three decades.
The reopening in 2013 as a craft brewery was an unusual solution to the problem of reusing a historic structure within a National Park: brewers use the park's thermal spring water as a primary ingredient, connecting the current use to the building's original purpose. VinePair documented the operation in 2015, noting its unique status as the only brewery inside a U.S. National Park.
The building's thirty years of vacancy — 1983 to 2013 — left it unoccupied through a period when most of its neighbors were also dormant or partially closed. The National Park Service lists the Superior among the Bathhouse Row structures on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sources
Hot Springs Ghost Hunt, a local paranormal investigation operator, runs after-hours investigation sessions inside the Superior Bathhouse, which management permits outside normal operating hours. The Hot Springs official tourism site confirmed in its 'Legends of Haunt Springs' roundup that the investigations occur at the Superior, lending the activity a degree of municipal acknowledgment unusual for paranormal tourism.
The basement boiler room is identified by investigators as the most consistently active area: battery drains that occur faster than ambient temperature would explain, temperature drops that do not correspond to HVAC operation, and unexplained sounds in a space that has multiple acoustic peculiarities from its industrial construction.
A 'lady on the stairs' apparition is the most specific figure reported at the Superior — a female form seen on or near the main staircase, described consistently enough across separate reports that it has become the site's signature phenomenon. Cold spots and unexplained footsteps on the building's tile floors are reported more broadly across the main bath floor.
The thirty-year vacancy period (1983-2013) is often cited by investigators as relevant context: a building that sat empty for decades in a reportedly active paranormal region without regular human disturbance.
The Superior Bathhouse operates as a full-service craft brewery and restaurant inside the restored 1916 bathhouse. Original architectural features — tiled floors, treatment rooms, the historic basement boiler — are visible throughout. The unique setting within Hot Springs National Park makes this among the more unusual brewery experiences in the country.
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