July 23, 2010

In 1893, an entertainment and gambling establishment opened at 250 Central Avenue in Hot Springs (Garland County). By 1910, the Southern Club was one of the most popular gambling spots in the town and, in the 1930s, became well known as a hangout for gangsters such as Al Capone. With a crackdown on illegal gambling in the 1960s, the club attempted to remain open as a supper club but failed. The building, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 as part of the Hot Springs Central Avenue Historic District, is now occupied by the Madame Tussaud Wax Museum.