Bill Clinton's town
1011 Park Avenue, Early Boyhood Home, 1954 to 1961
William Jefferson Clinton moved to
Hot Springs when he was a second grader from his birthplace in Hope, Arkansas,
with his mother, the late Mrs. Virginia Kelley. Young Bill's father, William
Jefferson Blythe III, had been killed in an automobile accident before Bill was
born, so Virginia Blythe carried the responsibility of raising him as a single
mother. Virginia Blythe married Hot Springs native Roger Clinton in 1950, and
later Bill took the surname that he carries today.
213 Scully, Later Boyhood Home, 1961-1964
Young Bill Clinton, after moving to Hot Springs, first enrolled in St. John's Catholic School and later attended Ramble Elementary School. At Hot Springs High School, he was an active student politician as well as a leader in the school's activities. He was a Band Major and was active in The Beta Club, National Honor Society and Chorus. He became an All-State Saxophone Player during this time, a talent he displayed on television shows such as "The Tonight Show" and "The Arsenio Hall Show."
Malco Theater, 817 Central Avenue
where he went to the movies
as seen through a rear view mirror
In 1963 he was a Hot Springs High School delegate to Boys State, where he was elected as Arkansas' delegate to Boys Nation. While attending Boys Nation in Washington, D.C., young Bill Clinton had an experience that set him on the road to political greatness: He shook hands with President John F. Kennedy.
Bill Clinton with President Kennedy
The photograph of that meeting, only four months before President Kennedy was assassinated, is one of President Clinton's proudest possessions.
Text from NPS
Bill Clinton's favorite Bar-B-Q
spot
which he still visits today
