Hot Springs is a quiet little town nestled deep in the Blue Ridge, just North of Asheville and Just South of the Tennessee border. The French Broad River cuts through the town, making it a draw for paddlers and kayakers. The Town gets its name from the natural hot springs which bubble up from the ground. It was these waters that brought tourists to Hot Springs throughout the nineteenth century. The springs are reported to have natural healing properties, and tourists seeking relief from various ailments or just a pleasant way to relax came to the town in droves. The sense of calm and relaxation seems to have spread from those spring throughout the entire town, and there is something of a mildly otherwordldy aura about the little town of Hot Springs. The town has been called where Mayberry meets The Twilight Zone.
Perhaps its something about this aura that seems to be doing its best from keeping Hot Springs from getting too big. Over the years, two grand hotels have been built near the springs, both of which came to ruin.
Patton's White House, which was built in 1837, had 350 rooms and a dining room that could seat 600.The hotel also boasted the largest ballroom in North Carolina, ad was a destination for the well-to-do tourist until it burned to the ground in the middle of the century.
Its successor, the Mountain Park Inn, was built in 1886 and was an even grander. This 200 room hotel with a nine-hole golf course and sixteen marble baths fed by the springs.