Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo facts for kids
Alligator farm circa 1902
|
|
| Date opened | 1902 |
|---|---|
| Location | Hot Springs, Arkansas, United States |
| Coordinates | 34°30′54″N 93°04′24″W / 34.51500°N 93.07333°W |
| No. of animals | <400 |
| No. of species | <20 |
The Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo is a special place in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It's a privately owned zoo. You can find it on Whittington Avenue.
This farm has been home to alligators since it opened in 1902. They don't raise the alligators there. The farm also has a small museum. Inside, you can see mounted alligators. There's also a souvenir shop to buy gifts. A unique item in the museum is a mummified "Merman". It's like the ones you might see in Ripley's Believe It or Not! museums.
In the main alligator area, there's a small headstone. It's a memorial for a fox terrier dog. The dog was sadly killed by alligators in 1906.
Contents
History of the Alligator Farm
How the Farm Started
H. L. Campbell started the farm in 1902. He thought Hot Springs, Arkansas needed more fun places for tourists. At that time, people mostly visited for the thermal baths.
Changes in Ownership
Before 1929, Campbell sold the farm to D. S. Older. It was then called the "Hot Springs Gator Farm." It had many alligators, sometimes up to 1500! It also included a small museum.
In 1945, Jack Bridges, Sr. and his wife bought the farm. They changed its name to the Arkansas Alligator Farm. The Bridges added a gift shop. They also brought in other animals. These included monkeys, raccoons, and logger-head turtles.
Jack Bridges Jr. and his wife Sue took over the zoo in 1965. They added even more animals. They also created a petting zoo. Plus, they expanded the small museum.
Animals and Exhibits
Meet the Animals
Today, the zoo has about 200 alligators. But that's not all! You can also see other cool animals. These include cougars, turkeys, chickens, wild boars, turtles, bobcats, and ring-tailed lemurs.
The Petting Zoo Experience
The farm also has a fun petting zoo. Here, you can get close to animals like goats, emus, llamas, white-tailed deer, and pigs. You can even see baby alligators! Visitors can feed these friendly animals. The alligator feeding show is also educational. You can learn many interesting facts about alligators.
Business History
Early Days of the Farm
When the farm first opened, it was a business. They raised alligators for their hides. They also sold live alligators to other parks and zoos. The farm was one of the first to use special incubators. These incubators helped alligator eggs hatch. In the early years, visitors could even buy live baby alligators from the farm.
Baseball History at the Farm
Babe Ruth's Famous Home Run
The Alligator Farm is part of baseball history. In 1918, it was near Whittington Park. This park was where the Pittsburgh Pirates did their Spring Training. On St. Patrick's Day in 1918, Babe Ruth was playing for the Boston Red Sox. He hit an amazing home run! The ball flew about 573 feet. It went over Whittington Avenue and landed in the second pond at the alligator farm.
At that time, Ruth was a star pitcher. But this home run helped him become a legendary hitter. There's a special marker inside the Alligator Farm. It tells the story of this famous event.
Fogel Field's Legacy
Next to the Alligator Farm's parking lot is a field. This field was once called Fogel Field. Hot Springs built it in 1912. It was a spring training site for Major League Baseball teams. The field was named after Horace Fogel. He was the President of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies trained there in 1912. The Pittsburgh Pirates used it from 1921–1923 and again in 1926. Later, teams from the Negro leagues also used Fogel Field. These included the Kansas City Monarchs (1928), Homestead Grays (1930–1931), and Pittsburgh Crawfords (1932-1935).
Baseball Trail Markers
Outside the Alligator Farm, you can find markers. They are part of the Hot Springs Historic Baseball Trail. These markers tell more about Babe Ruth and Fogel Field.
Media Features
On TV and Documentaries
The zoo has been shown on ABC News. It was also featured on TV shows like Untamed and Uncut and Most Shocking. One episode showed an animal handler being attacked by an alligator.
The story of Babe Ruth's 573-foot home run and the Alligator Farm is in a documentary. It's called The First Boys of Spring (2015). This film talks about the history of spring training baseball in Hot Springs. An actor from Arkansas, Billy Bob Thornton, narrates the documentary. Larry Foley produced it. The documentary started airing nationally on the MLB Network in February 2016.
