Hot Springs Historic District -- Big Bend NP TX - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The waymark coordinates are at the trailhead leading to the Boquillas Hot Springs at Big Bend National park. The trail passes the buildings and the hot springs that are the focus of this historic district.

The district is comprised of:

Contributing buildings: 2
Contributing structures: 1
Contributing sites: 1
Non-contributing sites: 2

From the Nomimation file:

Original Appearance: Perhaps the first structure at Hot Springs was a stone tub carved in a flat layer of rock which caught the waters from the spring and enabled man to use the waters for bathing purposes.

Some time prior to the arrival of the Langfords, a dugout had been constructed and subsequently abandoned. This was rehabilitated and served as the Langfords first home. Shortly thereafter Langford erected a one-room adobe house on a beach overlooking the site. A stone addition, roofed with river cane and corrugated metal and containing two more rooms, was added a year later. Langford also constructed a substantial stone bathhouse at the site of the springs, containing rock tubs plastered with cement. There were also a number of cane and brush bathing shelters at a second spring, downstream from the area.

Due to bandit raids and general border unrest, the Langfords left Hot Springs in 1912. When they returned 14 years later in 1927 Langford apparently discovered that the bathhouse had either been destroyed or at least was badly disintegrated. He immediately rebuilt it, but of a somewhat smaller and less substantial construction, being roofed only with canvas. He also constructed at this time a store and a motor court. Only these last two structures remain today.

Present Appearance; Both the store and the motor court are currently being restored by the NPS to their original appearance.

The store is a one-story stone structure approximately 28 x 12 feet in dimension. The walls are constructed of native stone set in earth mortar and painted with a natural limestone mortar. The roof is trussed rafter construction with wood sheathing and corrugated metal roofing. The interior walls are plastered and pointed and, at least during Maggie Smith's occupancy, a celotex or similar material was used as a ceiling attached to the bottom chord of the roof trusses.

The cabins consist of a row of seven attached one-room units, each approximately 11 x 15 feet in size. Of stone construction, the one-story structure has a wood-framed roof with rolled mineral-surfaced roofing. A flagstone terrace along the south side and east and west ends was originally covered by a porch or ramada. The interior of the walls were plastered and the exposed wood joists and wood trim were painted. Four of the rooms contain hand-painted murals.

Two other structures still remain on a hillside across Tornillos Creek to the west. However, these structures were not part of the Langford operation These are a frame and adobe shack constructed as temporary quarters for a postman, and a stone residence constructed by Charles Livingstone of Alpine, Texas. Both are now in a state of ruin.

Street address: Boquillas Hot Springs Big Bend National ParkTexas United States County / Borough / Parish: Brewster County TX Year listed: 1974 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Commerce; Health/Medicine; Entertainment/Recreation Periods of significance: 1900-1924; 1925-1949 Historic function: Outdoor recreation; Resort Current function: Park Privately owned?: no Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   12/25/2016 Benchmark Blasterz visited it