The new book,   GARLAND COUNTY, ARKANSAS:  OUR HISTORY AND HERITAGE  can be ordered now for pick-up / delivery .     For more information – click on   HISTORY & HERITAGE

Also, The Record 2009 is available at the Archives on Quapaw Avenue

For 50 years, since 1960, The Record has documented the history of Garland County, including information on early generations of local families. We welcome articles as long as they pertain to this region and are well-documented. Due to space limitations, the society cannot publish all the articles it receives. The editorial staff retains the right to edit all submissions for content and length. If you wish to submit an article, contact Isabel Anthony or Liz Robbins at GCHS. 

Click here to view Article Index for Records in 1960-2009  

Requires free Adobe Reader to view. 

  The Garland County Historical Society has also published the following.

Leo and Verne - The Spa's Heyday 
By Orval Allbritton
More than six years research by the author has resulted in the best book ever written concerning this period [or any other!] in the history of Hot Springs!
"The Spa's Heyday" reveals Hot Springs colorful past as seen through the actions and decisions of two of its most memorable individuals, Mayor Leo P. McLaughlin and Judge Verne Ledgerwood. McLaughlin was the flamboyant, Jimmy Walker-type mayor and Ledgerwood, the man behind the scenes, who came up with the idea of how to set up the political machinery and stayed in the background. The material for this 607 page book, which took 6-1/2 years to complete, was gleaned by the author from more than 1,700 sources: old issues of the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record, the New Era, court records, Supreme Court records, taped interviews with former two-term Arkansas Governor, the late Sid McMath, former FBI Agent and Garland County Sheriff Clay White, the late Jacob King, who was on the grand jury that indicted McLaughlin after the GI's put him out of office, former club owners and many other sources. It is the first in-depth history ever written concerning the "McLaughlin Era."
$30 (plus $4 postage and handling). Pub100

Hollywood Cemetery Tombstone Inscriptions 2002
Compiled by Gail Ashbrook
Hollywood, the oldest cemetery in Hot Springs, was used as a burial ground prior to the Civil War. It was cataloged and published in 1968 by Bobbie Jones McLane and the late Inez Cline, and was updated in 2002 by Gail Ashbrook. In 1988 the Hot Springs Funeral Home and the Hollywood Cemetery Preservation Association began a joint effort to restore the badly overgrown Cemetery, and in 1989, the company began a massive cleanup; existing records were put in order for reference of the staff and the company made plans for the development of the New Hollywood Cemetery Annex. The first interments in the new section began in the year 2000. As is common with many older cemeteries, the earliest records of interments and purchasers of plots are missing. There were interments as early as 1845 and one in 1857 with an existing marker. 
All tombstones in the cemetery were copied and cataloged by Gail Ashbrook with photographs made of some of the most distinctive stones. The book, with an alphabetical index, lists all of the existing markers, section by section, with maps to help locate a particular cemetery plot.
$22 (plus $3 postage and handling). Pub200

Indian Folklore Atlas of Hot Springs National Park
By Marcus Phillips
The society has sold more than 1,000 copies of this widely-acclaimed book. Learn more of the legends, traditions, and history of the beautiful Valley of the Vapors. Marcus Phillips, with his extensive historical knowledge of the Indians in our valley, and the exceptional writing and editing skills of the late Sandra Long, brought this folklore atlas together, including maps of the Indian trails.
$25 (plus $3 postage and handling). Pub300

Observations of Arkansas: The 1824-1863 Letters of Hiram Abiff Whittington. 
In 1913, as workmen dismantled a pioneer home in Montgomery County, a neatly-bound volume of letters was discovered in the attic that would prove to be of great historical value. The intriguing volume primarily contained letters between Granville Whittington in Boston and Hiram Whittington, his older adventurous brother - from Arkansas Territory between 1827 and 1834 - which have become significant historical documents. These descriptive letters humanize their time period in Arkansas describing life in the territory as observed by Hiram. 
Dr. John L. Ferguson, state historian and long-time director of the Arkansas History Commission - State Archives, says they are not only highly informative but delightful to read. The letters have been copied in part many times and have often been used as cross-references to this time in Arkansas history, but this is the first complete volume published. The book is in its second printing and was compiled by Bobbie Jones McLane, Wendy Bradley Richter, and Charles W. Cunning.
$25 (plus $3 postage and handling). Pub400

1930 Federal Population Census, Vol. 1, City of Hot Springs, Arkansas 
In 2004, we published the 1930 Census for the City of Hot Springs, which was transcribed by Patsy Hall, consisting of 636 pages indicating complete names, place of abode, address, all names in the household, relationship to head of the house, sex, color or race, age, marital status, school attendance, birthplace of Person and Parents; year immigrated, Naturalized, trade or profession, veteran, and if so, what war. If you lived in Hot Springs in 1930, this information concerning you is in this book.
$45 (plus $3 postage and handling). Pub500

1930 Federal Population Census, Vol. 2, Townships of Garland County, Arkansas 
This publication of the 1930 census concerning the townships of Garland County was transcribed by Mary "Jackie" Cooper, and consists of 241 pages indicating complete names, place of abode, all names in the household, relationship to head of the house, sex, color or race, age, marital status, school attendance, birthplace of person and parents, year immigrated, Naturalized, trade or profession, veteran, and if so, what war. If you lived in a township of Garland Country in 1930, this information concerning you is in this book.
$25 (plus $3 postage and handling). Pub600

Greenwood Cemetery Tombstone Inscriptions 2005
Compiled by Gail Ashbrook, Elizabeth C. Davis, Computer Consultant
Greenwood was not organized as a Cemetery Company until 1882 when they began listing interments, but as is common with many older cemeteries, some of the earliest markers found were in the 1870s. All tombstones in the cemetery were copied and cataloged by Gail Ashbrook with photographs made of some of the most distinctive stones. The book, with an alphabetical index, lists all of the existing markers, section by section, with maps to help locate a particular cemetery plot.
$32 (plus $3 postage and handling). Pub700

Marble Township in the 1880s
Compiled by Margaret Hubbard, Patsy Schran Hall, and Mary "Jackie" Cooper
Various individuals who have lived in Marble Township, or whose families were reared in that area, have furnished information about the people who lived in this closely knit community. Long promised, this includes William Asa Talley's History of Marble, The Jessieville Sports Arena and Wall of Honor by Wendy Bradley Richter, numerous photographs, and information on the families (all individuals) in Marble Township in the 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 census.
$22 (plus $3 postage and handling). Pub800

New Books Available

NEW  Friendship Cemetery Tombstone Inscriptions 2007 
Compiled by Gail Ashbrook, Lana Donoho, and Elizabeth C. Davis
The acquisition of land and the first interments in Friendship Cemetery (which was planned with the Black community in mind) took place in the early 1920s. Several pages of photographs and historical notes make this a very attractive and interesting volume. A map section and an alphabetical index complement the block by block, row by row inscription list, making a user-friendly reference work. There is an epitaph section, as well . Because older temporary markers are damaged or missing, the 1969 list of markers, compiled by Inez Cline and Bobbie Jones McLane, is included along with a list of temporary markers placed in Friendship by Page Mortuary and a list of markers made by Hot Springs Monument Company which were delivered to Friendship. 
$12 (plus $3 postage and handling). Pub1100

Hot Springs Gunsmoke 
By Orval Allbritton
The history of a place, the things that make it what it is today, is not all beauty and architecture and heroic residence. This history of a place is evil overcome, violence conquered, corruption vanquished, bad men and women as well as good.
Sometimes a place is marked by the smell of gun smoke.
Orval Allbritton understands that.
One of the pre-eminent chroniclers of those things has gone into the creation of Hot Springs Gunsmoke. Allbritton has crafted such a book, a look at the sometimes violent events that together with our heroes, our beauty and our treasures natural and man-made, into the creation of the wonderful and exciting place known as Hot Springs, Arkansas. The price of this new compilation is $18 (plus $3 postage and handling). Pub1200

Calvary Cemetery Tombstone Inscriptions 2006
Compiled by Gail Ashbrook and Elizabeth C. Davis
The land for Calvary Cemetery was purchased in 1881, but tombstones of early Irish immigrants who settled in Hot Springs and became members of the first Catholic Parish, are dated starting in the 1870s. There are numerous unmarked graves in the oldest block. It is a cemetery of crosses and contains many handsome older tombstones skillfully inscribed with Catholic religious symbols and interesting epitaphs. 
Captioned photographs, a brief history note, information about unreadable inscriptions and the meaning of symbols depicted, make an unusually attractive cemetery book. A map section and an alphabetical index complement the block by block, row by row inscription list, making a user-friendly reference work. The Church of St. Mary manages the cemetery. The price of this new compilation is $20 (plus $3 postage and handling). Pub1300

Jewish Rest Cemetery and Beth Jacob Cemetery Tombstone Inscriptions 2006
Compiled by Gail Ashbrook and Elizabeth C. Davis
The land for Jewish Rest was purchased in 1867 with the oldest existing tombstones dating in the 1870s. A stroll through this long rectangular cemetery with its many shade trees and nandina bushes is a peaceful experience. From any of several benches, one can read the inscribed names of businessmen, whose names have been familiar to several generations of local residents. Hebrew inscriptions cover older tombstones, leaving just enough space for name and dates in English. Recent markers have a line or two inscribed in Hebrew. Symbols which can be traced back to Old Testament times are both interesting and inspirational. 
Jewish Rest and Beth Jacob cemetery are both managed by Congregation House of Israel. Beth Jacob is on highway 7, four miles past the junction of highways 5 and 7. The land was purchased in the mid 1940's, and there have been approximately fifty interments, using four rows with a footpath. The grounds are fenced, well-kept, and there is space for hundreds of new lots well into the 21st Century. 
The book contains maps, inscription lists by block and row, alphabetical indexes, an epitaph section, and a section with captioned photographs and brief notes. Ashbrook and Davis combined their experience and skills in producing an attractive and useful cemetery book. The price of this new compilation is $15 (plus $3 postage and handling). Pub1400

To purchase any of the above publications by mail, send a check or money order payable to the Garland County Historical Society to:

Garland County Historical Society
Post Office Box 21335
Hot Springs, Arkansas 71903-1335