Halloween 2011: American's Most Haunted Hotel?

Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs

The historic Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs is one of the most cherished structures in Arkansas. It also may be the most haunted.
Built in 1886, just 21 years after the guns of the Civil War finally fell silent in the Ozarks, the Crescent was one of the grandest hotels in America. Visitors came to Eureka Spring by rail to "take the waters" of the community's numerous mineral springs in the hopes that the clear mountain waters held a medicinal secret that would cure their various ailments. The Crescent Hotel was built to provide the wealthiest of these guests with accommodations up to the standards of the most discriminating Americans of the day.

The Civil War had left tens of thousands of Americans sick with lingering illnesses and/or disabled by a variety of horrible battlefield wounds. Human suffering among the soldiers and their families lingered for many years after the end of the conflict. Many of these individuals sought out places like Eureka Springs, hoping that the mineral waters could ease their pain and suffering.

The popularity of mineral baths faded as the Civil War generation passed into history and by the 1930s, the Crescent had fallen on hard times. It was revived, however, as the "Castle in the Sky" of "Dr." Norman Baker, a radio pitchman who claimed to have discovered a way to cure cancer.

Desperate women came from all over the country to try the fake doctor's cancer cure. Many of them died at the Crescent. 

Baker eventually went to prison for mail fraud, but legend holds that his victims still roam the rooms and halls of the beautifull restored old hotel!  In fact, it is said to be the most haunted hotel in America.

To read the full story, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/crescenthotel.

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

If you plan to do some Civil War site exploring in Northwest Arkansas, a good base for doing so is the beautiful and historic community of Eureka Springs.

Less than 30 miles from Pea Ridge National Military Park on U.S. Highway 62, Eureka Springs is a major Spring travel destination in the Ozarks. There are a number of sites in the area with Civil War connections, including Pea Ridge, Blue Spring Heritage Center, War Eagle Mill and the Buffalo River area. Eureka Springs itself is a well-preserved Victorian era community noted for its amazing array of historic structures that range from America's "Most Haunted Hotel" to Thorncrown Chapel, an architectural landmark.

The city boasts a wide array of hotels, bed and breakfast inns, cabins and even treehouses as well as restaurants, cafes, unique shops and a variety of points of interest. Eureka Springs is also the per capita wedding capital of the United States. More people go there to get married each year than actually live in the town!

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/eurekaindex.

Blue Spring Heritage Center - Eureka Springs, Arkansas

In yesterday's post I mentioned the destruction of numerous water-powered gristmills across the Ozarks region of Arkansas during the Civil War. Another site of a destroyed mill can be found at Blue Spring Heritage Center just outside of Eureka Springs.

Blue Spring was a noted landmark of 19th century Arkansas and had been a campsite on the Cherokee Trail of Trears. Early settlers built a mill here, using the powerful flow of the spring to turn the wheel. Like many similar facilities, the gristmill at Blue Spring was targeted during the war and went up in flames.

A few traces of the early pioneer industry can still be seen and interpretive signs on the grounds tell the story of the mill and its important role to the lives of the original settlers of the region. The grounds of the Blue Spring Heritage Center are noted as being among the most beautiful in the South. In addition to the magnificent natural spring and mountain setting of the park, there are magnificent planted gardens that will be coming into full bloom in early April.

Blue Spring Heritage Center is located 6 miles northwest of Eureka Springs off Highway 62. The park opens for the season on March 15. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/eureka3.

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Although the city itself dates from the post-Civil War years, you will find bits and pieces of Union and Confederate history around Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

The beautiful little Victorian city is a major Southern destination and a great place to stay if you are exploring the Civil War sites of Northwest Arkansas and Southern Missouri.

I've just launched a new Eureka Springs section that you might find of interest at www.exploresouthernhistory.com. Just follow the link and look for the heading on the main page.

Blue Spring, Arkansas

Located just outside of Eureka Springs, Blue Spring is one of the most beautiful places in Arkansas. Nestled in the Ozarks, the spring is now the center piece of the Blue Spring Heritage Center, a park area that interprets its natural and cultural history.

An important camping place on the Cherokee Trail of Tears during the 1830s, the spring was a landmark for early settlers of the region. A mill was constructed here during the 1840s, with the flowing water from the spring run as its power source.

Such small industries were targeted throughout Arkansas during the Civil War and the mill at Blue Spring was burned by soldiers. It was part of a larger strategy of defeating the South by denying its residents the means to support the Confederate armies in the field. By destroying mills, crops, stored up supplies and other necessities, citizens were placed in dire straits and prevented from supporting the war effort.

Blue Spring Heritage Center is located off U.S. 62 West about six miles northwest of Eureka Springs. Open during the spring, summer and fall, the park features walking paths, boardwalks, an interpretive center and more.