Arizona's own hot springs, bubbling at 122 degrees Fahrenheit, brought national attention to the Castle Hot Springs resort.
Castle Hot Springs has been a site of healing and recreation dating to at least the fifteenth century. Advertisements hailed the waters' curative powers, which drew numerous local and national visitors to the “grand dowager” of Arizona resorts. Castle Hot Springs served as retreat for business and political leaders and the wealthy. Among those who frequented the resort were some of America's most notable elites, including members of the Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Roosevelt families, as well as the novelist Zane Grey.
Castle Hot Springs benefited from the tourism boom to Arizona in the late nineteenth century, as tuberculosis patients moved to Arizona for its favorable climate. Advertisements hailed the waters' curative powers, and the spring even became the territorial winter capital.
Following a devastating fire, in 1976, Castle Hot Springs closed. Since then, the property has changed hands multiple times. Only two buildings remain, along with a the grounds, pool, and golf course.
The hot springs are fed by an enormous cistern created by the displacement of volcanic rock tens of thousands of years ago. The reservoir produces water at 122 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Date: c. 1920
