Hot Springs Obituary Records
Hot Springs obituary records have unique depth compared to most Arkansas cities. Hot Springs is one of only three cities in Arkansas that kept city-level death records before state registration began in 1914, with city death records running from 1895 to 1917 now held at the Arkansas State Archives. Add to that the Gross Mortuary funeral records from 1874 to 1922, records from Caruth Funeral Home and Page Mortuary, and the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record Obituary Index, and you have one of the most layered local death record collections in the state. This page covers every major source for obituary and death record research in Hot Springs and Garland County.
Pre-1914 Hot Springs Death Records
Hot Springs stands out in Arkansas genealogy research because the city maintained its own death records before the state began mandatory registration. The Hot Springs city death records run from 1895 to 1917 and are now held at the Arkansas State Archives at One Capitol Mall, 2nd Floor, Little Rock, AR 72201. Phone is (501) 682-6900. Email is state.archives@arkansas.gov.
These pre-state registration records are a rare resource. For families where someone died in Hot Springs between 1895 and 1914, a death record almost certainly exists at the Archives even though state registration had not yet begun. The city records cover the period when Hot Springs was one of the most visited cities in the country, drawing travelers from across the nation for the thermal baths. That means people died here who were not local residents, and their deaths were recorded in the city files.
Beyond the city death records, the Archives maintains the In Remembrance database covering deaths from 1819 to 1920, printed death certificate indexes for 1914 to 1948 and 1967 to 1971, and mortality census schedules from 1850 through 1880. The Digital Archives at digitalheritage.arkansas.gov provides online access to many of these indexed collections.
Funeral Home Records for Hot Springs
Several historic Hot Springs funeral home record collections are preserved and accessible through the Arkansas State Archives. The Gross Mortuary Funeral Records run from 1874 to 1922, making this one of the oldest and most extensive local funeral home collections in Arkansas. If your ancestor died in Hot Springs during that nearly 50-year span, there is a real chance a Gross Mortuary record survives. These ledgers typically contain the full name, date of death, cause, age, and next of kin.
Caruth Funeral Home records cover two distinct periods: 1909 to 1970 and 1971 to 1990. That gives researchers access to records spanning eight decades of Hot Springs deaths. Page Mortuary records cover 1950 to 1970. Together, these three funeral home collections provide near-continuous coverage of Hot Springs deaths from the 1870s through the 1990s, supplementing the newspaper obituaries and state death certificates available through other sources.
The Hot Springs Sentinel-Record Obituary Index covers 1996 to 1999 and 2005 to the present through The Melting Pot Genealogical Society. That index gives researchers a searchable entry point for more recent deaths when you know the approximate year but not the exact date.
The screenshot below shows the Garland County records portal, a primary access point for Hot Springs and Garland County death records, probate filings, and courthouse archives.
Garland County courthouse records for probate, marriage, and court filings are a key secondary source for Hot Springs obituary research when newspaper records or death certificates are incomplete.
Garland County Clerk and Probate Records
Hot Springs is the county seat of Garland County. The Garland County Clerk's office is at the Courthouse, Room 207, 501 Ouachita Avenue, Hot Springs, AR 71901. Phone is 501-622-3600. Hours are 8AM to 5PM CST. The clerk's office handles probate records, marriage licenses, and other county-level vital records.
The Hot Springs City Clerk is at 133 Convention Blvd., Hot Springs, AR 71901. Phone is 501-321-6805, fax 501-321-6809. City Clerk contact is available through the city website at hotspringsar.gov. The City Clerk maintains city-level records and can help direct you to the right office for the type of record you need.
Probate filings at the Garland County courthouse are public records and searchable through CourtConnect. Every time someone in Hot Springs died with property, an estate case was opened. Those cases name the deceased, note the date of death, list heirs, and sometimes include letters and affidavits not found anywhere else. For older probate cases not yet in CourtConnect, a written request to the circuit clerk is the next step.
Note: FamilySearch holds Arkansas Probate Records 1817 to 1979 and Arkansas Wills and Probate Records 1783 to 1998, both including Garland County records. These are free to search and can help identify case numbers before you request the full file from the courthouse.
Online Hot Springs Obituary Databases
FamilySearch holds the Arkansas Death Index 1914 to 1950 with about 594,000 deaths indexed statewide. Garland County records are included. The Arkansas Deaths and Burials collection covers 1882 to 1929 and 1945 to 1963. Digitized death certificates from 1914 to 1969 are free at FamilySearch. For the Hot Springs area before 1914, the city death records at the Archives and the Gross Mortuary records fill the gap.
The Arkansas Digital Archives provides access to digitized historical newspapers and the In Remembrance database. The In Remembrance database is searchable by name and can locate death records in collections held at the Archives. For Hot Springs deaths between 1819 and 1920, this is a useful first check because the database pulls from multiple source types at once.
The USGenWeb Archives and GenealogyTrails host free volunteer-contributed records for Garland County. These collections can surface obituary transcriptions and cemetery lists not available in the major subscription databases. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas has entries on Hot Springs that provide context for understanding institutions and organizations that appear in older death notices.
Death Certificates for Hot Springs
Arkansas death certificates from 1914 forward are held by the Arkansas Department of Health Vital Records office at 4815 W. Markham, Little Rock, AR 72205. Phone is 800-637-9314. For Hot Springs deaths from 1895 to 1913, the city death records at the Arkansas State Archives are the primary source.
The fee for a certified death certificate copy is $10.00 for the first copy and $8.00 for each additional copy of the same record. A $10.00 non-refundable search fee applies if no record is found. Walk-in service runs Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM with same-day issuance. Online ordering is at VitalChek at www.vitalchek.com. Phone orders go to 866-209-9482.
Under Arkansas Code Ann. ยง 20-18-304, death certificates are restricted for 50 years. After that point they become public records accessible to anyone. The online death index through the Department of Health covers 1935 to 1961. For deaths before 1935 or after 1961, submit a formal request to Vital Records.
Local Research Resources
The Arkansas Genealogical Society in Little Rock can connect you with Garland County researchers. The society publishes the Arkansas Family Historian quarterly and maintains research guides for each Arkansas county. Members can often point you to local funeral home contacts and obscure collections that do not appear in any online index.
The CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock holds newspaper microfilm for Arkansas papers including titles that covered Hot Springs. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette historical archive, the Arkansas Gazette from 1867 through 1991, and other papers covered Hot Springs news extensively given the city's prominence. The Butler Center also holds the Arkansas Gazette Obituaries Index 1819 to 1879 with 14,329 entries.
The Garland County Library and local genealogical organizations can provide additional research support. Given Hot Springs' unique history as a resort city with visitors from across the country, researchers sometimes find that a death record involves someone whose family was not local. In those cases, cross-checking with the state archives and FamilySearch national collections may be necessary to locate next-of-kin records.
Nearby Cities
Other qualifying Arkansas cities with obituary pages on this site include:
For county-level records and courthouse contacts in Hot Springs, the Garland County page covers the clerk office, probate records, and genealogy resources serving the county.