The thermal springs site is one of the oldest known health resorts in the state, used by the Cherokees long before white travelers heard about the springs. Located on the Buncombe Turnpike, then the Western North Carolina Railroad, the community first named Warm Springs had a grand hotel by the mid-19^th century. The hotel burned in 1884 and was replaced by 1886, accompanied by elaborate marble-lined bathing and swimming facilities. In 1886 discovery of a hotter spring led to the name change to Hot Springs.