Editing Hot Springs, North Carolina (section)

==History==
Hot Springs is located at the [[confluence]] of the [[French Broad River]] and [[Spring Creek (Madison County, North Carolina)|Spring Creek]]. A natural [[Hot spring|thermal spring]] is located there,<ref>{{cite book |last1=NOAA |title=Thermal Springs List for the United States |date=1980 |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |location=Boulder, CO}}</ref> the only hot spring known in North Carolina and in much of the southeastern United States. Thus, this area has long been a destination for those looking for therapeutic relief from their ailments. Native Americans were the first to discover and use the 108&nbsp;°F (42&nbsp;°C)<ref>{{cite web |last1=NOAA |title=List of hot springs in the United States |url=https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/nndc/struts/results?t=100006&s=1&d=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050407201958/http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/nndc/struts/results?t=100006&s=1&d=1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 7, 2005 |website=National Oceanic and Aeronautical Association |access-date=February 21, 2020}}</ref> mineral waters, and European immigrants settled the area over 200 years ago. It is reported that people were visiting the springs by 1778 for the waters' reported healing properties.

It was believed Jasper Dagy was the first owner of Warm Springs, as it was then called, and he sold it to William Neilson in 1791. Neilson built an inn, and Philip Hoodenpile built an estate and a [[ferry]] across the French Broad, as well as the [[toll road]] Jewel Hill Road.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2019/08/18/visiting-our-past-missing-ears-other-topics-occupied-first-settlers/2035274001/|title=Visiting Our Past: Roads, orphans, speculation and missing ears occupied first settlers|last=Neufeld|first=Rob|work=[[Asheville Citizen-Times]]|date=August 18, 2019|access-date=August 18, 2019}}</ref> In 1828, a major road was constructed through the town, the Buncombe Turnpike, making the area more accessible.

By 1831, James Patton of [[Asheville, North Carolina|Asheville]] bought the springs and had erected 350 room Warm Springs Hotel with its 13 tall columns representing the [[Thirteen Colonies]] in 1837. The dining room of this large hotel could seat 600 people. The railroad reached the village in 1882. The hotel burned in 1884 after 46 years of operation. Another hotel, called the Mountain Park, was built in 1886.

A higher temperature spring was found, prompting the changing of the town's name from Warm Springs to Hot Springs in 1886. Sixteen marble pools were surrounded by landscaped lawns with croquet and tennis courts, and it was known as one of the most lavish resorts in the Southeast. By May 1917, the hotel and grounds were leased to the US Government to be used as an internment camp. Many German and Austro-Hungarian internees, noncombatant aliens, made local friends and stayed in the region after [[World War I]]. That hotel burned in 1920, and two more were built—neither as large and opulent, and both later burned as well.

Hot Springs and the historic district was devastated by flooding caused by [[Effects of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina|Hurricane Helene]] on September 27, 2024.<ref name="Hurricane Helene">{{cite web|url=https://www.citizen-times.com/picture-gallery/weather/2024/10/15/hot-springs-resort-and-spa-n-c-after-tropical-storm-helene/75687111007/|title=See inside Hot Springs N.C. after Tropical Storm Helene |accessdate=2024-12-30|publisher=USA Today}}></ref>