Photograph: J. Verne Smith and E. C. Bailey at Happy Hollow, Hot Springs, Arkansas · Greer Heritage Museum collection

Title: Photograph: J. Verne Smith and E. C. Bailey at Happy Hollow, Hot Springs, Arkansas
Accession Number: 2025.3.4
2025.3.4a – photograph
2025.3.4b – cardboard backing with notes
Accession Date: 5 February 2025
Accession Creator: David Lovegrove
Depositor: Jan Bailey
Description: J. Verne Smith, Sr (left) and E. C. Bailey, Sr. (right) on a trip to Happy Hollow "amusement park" in Hot Springs, Arkansas, located at the end of Fountain Street, just off Central Avenue, and north of Hot Springs Mountain. They are posing for the photographer on two of the park's burros.

Happy Hollow was a tourist attraction started in 1888 by photographer Norman McLeod. The park contained a shooting gallery, a zoo, and a souvenir shop. The shooting gallery was located on the side of the mountain, where a shelf held targets made of bottles. The park’s zoo held fifty animals, while additional uncaged animals, such as burros, ponies, and horses, roamed the park for adults and children to ride.
Date: 1890 or 1892
Format: Card, 7.5"x9.5"
Storage Location: Box 7, Folder 12
Concerns: Photograph has been damaged. Top and bottom left corners are disconnected but were held in place with tape.
Text: A separate cardboard backing from the frame says on one side:

left – J. Verne Smith, Sr.
right – E. C. Bailey, Sr.
1890
trip to Hot Springs, AK

other side, appears to be the older original notes:
E. C. Bailey, Sr. & friend J. Verne Smith, Sr. about 1892 — taken at "Happy Hollow" Hot Springs, Arkansas [1892 appears to be corrected over another date, possibly 1900]
Relation: Jan Bailey Collection
References: https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/happy-hollow-1206/

Item sets: GHM: archive; Jan Bailey Collection