Hot Springs has been an affront to the rest of the Old Testament South since its incorporation in 1874. It styles itself the Spa; its neighbors call it Hot Town and Sin City.
Until the late 1960s, it was known for open bars, accommodating houses of ill repute and casinos. That all those were illegal was studiously ignored by local and state authorities (according to author Roy Reed, describing Hot Springs in his 1997 biography of Orville Faubus.)
This is the first installment of a five-part monthly series about a shocking period of corruption in Hot Springs that took place between 1927 and 1967. The first part will look at the 20-year tenure of Mayor Leo McLaughlin, from 1927 to 1947.
McLaughlin was elected mayor in 1927, following a number of years of honest mayors. While Hot Springs, before 1927, had always had its share of illegal speak-easies, backroom gambling, and prostitution, this "dark side" of Hot Springs had been kept in check by relatively honest city officials. However, starting with McLaughlin's election as mayor, these illegal activities became flagrantly commonplace as a result of bribes and payoffs to the police, the judiciary, and numerous elected officials.
In 1927, McLaughlin ran for mayor on a platform of reviving Hot Springs as a national resort. He supported the concept of Hot Springs as an "open" city (being the code word for easy access to gambling and alcohol). Within several years after McLaughlin's election, the Southern Club in downtown and the Belvedere Club on Highway 5 had opened, offering both booze and gambling to their well-heeled clientele. Well-known journalist, the late Roy Bosson, summarized that "Hot Springs was on its way as an oasis in Mid-America's Bible Belt for those seeking the glamour and glitter of bright lights and easy morality."
By the 1930s, there were at least seven houses of prostitution in operation, including three in downtown. Up and down Central Avenue, numerous bookmaking establishments openly operated and accepted illegal wagering on horse races. Hot Springs became a preferred vacation destination for many gangsters from Chicago and New York, including Al Capone and Lucky Luciano. Hot Springs' local government under McLaughlin became extremely corrupt, even providing police protection for visiting gangsters from FBI arrest. The gamblers and prostitutes would appear in municipal court on a monthly basis, pay a small fine, and then continue on with their illegal businesses.
Even during the years of World War II, these illegal activities continued unabated. A 1946 grand jury report stated, "The extent of graft and corruption in this city is unbelievable. It has touched our school system, our social, religious and business lives."
Why did the voters not throw out the bad guys? The short answer is that McLaughlin's political machine retained its power through controlling local elections. By controlling the issuance of poll tax receipts required for a person to vote, the McLaughlin machine was able to stuff ballot boxes with hundreds of fraudulent votes. In 1935, divorce papers stated that McLaughlin was earning $60,000 a year in "legal fees" (these fees being mostly kickbacks). McLaughlin's income would be the equivalent of over a million dollars today.
But McLaughlin was about to meet his match. War veterans of courage and integrity were returning from World War II and were willing to challenge McLaughlin and his political machine. Next month, I will examine why in 1939 Hot Springs was described by one major national publication as the "wickedest city" in the United States. The third installment will look will tell the story of the "G.I. Revolt" group that overthrew McLaughlin. The fourth article I will look back at the period from 1955 until 1964 when illegal casinos such as the Vapors and Southern Club operated with almost no restriction. Finally, this series will conclude with the story of how illegal gambling finally came to an end in Hot Springs in 1967, and our town began to reinvent itself.
If you would like to learn more about the history of the Hot Springs between the 1920s and 1960s, you might want to read the excellent history of this era, "Leo and Verne," written by Orval E. Allbritton, the dean of local historians. "Leo and Verne" is available at the Garland County Library.
Retired local attorney Clay Farrar writes a monthly column about Hot Springs history. Email [email protected] with questions or comments.
Editorial on 01/31/2018