Construction began in 1911 and finished in 1913, during the period of Japanese colonial rule over Taiwan. The Hokuto Public Bathhouse, as it was then called, was the largest bathhouse in East Asia -- an extravagant claim for a modest-looking two-story structure, but one that reflected Japan's ambitions for its colonial holdings. The design drew on Edwardian architectural conventions: red brick walls, wooden weatherboards, and a layout that separated the grand public bathing hall on the ground floor from more intimate spaces above. Hot spring water from the surrounding Beitou thermal valley fed directly into the building's stone-lined pools. The Japanese authorities intended the bathhouse as both a public amenity and a statement of civilizing purpose, bringing modern bathing culture to the mountainous outskirts of Taipei.

When Japan surrendered Taiwan in 1945, the bathhouse's identity began to fragment. The incoming Republic of China government repurposed it first as a police station, then as a local Kuomintang party headquarters, and finally as the Zhongshan House, a reception facility for county administrators. None of these incarnations required hot spring pools, and none invested in maintaining the plumbing that made them possible. Sulfuric water is merciless to infrastructure it was never designed to resist, and the building's new tenants had little interest in fighting corrosion. By the time authorities lost interest entirely, the structure was crumbling. Wooden beams sagged under the humidity. The great bathing hall sat empty, its stone pools stained and silent. The building was simply abandoned.

In 1994, a group of elementary school teachers on a local history field trip stumbled across the deteriorating structure and recognized what it was. Their campaign to save the building gathered momentum quickly. In February 1995, the Ministry of the Interior declared it a Class 3 historical site, halting any demolition plans. Restoration began in March 1998, and on October 31 of that year, the building reopened as the Beitou Hot Spring Museum -- transformed from a forgotten ruin into a community treasure within the span of four years. The restoration preserved the building's dual character: the ground floor still holds the original public bath, no longer operational but dramatically lit and preserved behind glass, alongside exhibits on the geology of hot springs, the history of bathing culture, and Beitou's distinctive radioactive hokutolite mineral, found naturally in only two locations worldwide.

The second floor holds surprises. Six exhibition areas cover Beitou's history from multiple angles, including a tatami-floored recreational space where visitors remove their shoes and sit on reed mats, the wood creaking underfoot exactly as it did a century ago. One exhibit documents Beitou's unlikely role as Taiwan's first film production center -- during the 1950s and 1960s, the neighborhood's hot spring hotels and atmospheric scenery attracted moviemakers who turned the district into what locals still call "Taiwanese Hollywood." A lookout balcony offers views across Beitou Park toward the steaming valley that made the whole story possible. The museum sits a short walk east from Xinbeitou Station on the Taipei Metro, making it one of the most accessible historical sites in the city.