According to Cornelia, my aunt-in-law, Hot Springs was a booming vacation town in the days of the mobsters. Later it fell on harder times as Americans were drawn to other attractions than this countryside resort, besides the fact that generally most american southern towns experienced a decline in their downtown areas during the 1980′s-2000′s. Now the city is experiencing a revival, although most of the original bath houses are no longer in operation as such, some of them being used as hotels for local horse races or restaurants. Despite the renewed interest in the town as a vacation spot, there is still quite a few old buildings of interest that are in disrepair or abandoned varying in styles of architecture such as: spanish revival, Art Deco, Neoclassical and modern movement.