Garlan County, AR

About Garland County, AR

Garland County is located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 100,180. The county seat is Hot Springs. Garland County comprises the Hot Springs, Arkansas Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county includes Hot Springs National Park, the only national park in the state of Arkansas as well as the first property to be protected under federal legislation. A law was passed in 1832 supported by President Andrew Jackson to preserve this area, even before Arkansas was admitted as a state.== History == This area was occupied by the historic Natchitoches people, who frequented the hot springs for their healing powers. Their ancestors among regional indigenous peoples had been coming to this area for thousands of years before their time. After acquiring the Louisiana Territory in 1803, which had been controlled by French and Spanish officials, President Thomas Jefferson requested William Dunbar, a planter and amateur scientist of Natchez, Mississippi, to explore this area. Dunbar led small group of a dozen soldiers and friend George Hunter, a chemist, to the Ouachita Mountains to report on the Indian tribes, minerals, and springs.