Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Eureka Springs is a city in Carroll County, Arkansas, United States. Along with Berryville, it is one of the two county seats for the county. It is located in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas. According to 2010 Census, the population of the town is 2,073. The entire town of Eureka Springs is on the National Register of Historic Places as the Eureka Springs Historic District and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Arkansas.

Description
Eureka Springs is a unique Victorian resort village in Carroll County, Arkansas which has its own culture and lifestyle. The city has steep winding streets filled with Victorian-style cottages and manors. The old commercial section of the city has an alpine character, with an extensive streetscape of well-preserved Victorian buildings. The buildings are primarily constructed of local stone and lie along streets that curve around the hills and rise and fall with the topography in a five-mile long loop. Some buildings have street-level entrances on more than one floor. The local Catholic Church boasts a street-level entrance to its bell tower. Eureka Springs has been selected as one of America's Distinctive Destinations by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

One of Eureka Springs' attractions is the Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railroad, which operates excursion trains behind a vintage diesel over approximately two miles of historic tracks. The railroad also has several steam locomotives on display.

Most of the stores and shops in the commercial district are locally owned and managed. They consist primarily of specialty shops featuring local crafts, antiques, the works of local artists, and standard Ozark tourist fare. The downtown area also features various coffee shops and sidewalk cafés. The town has more than 20 art galleries in the downtown area. The city maintains a trolley service providing transportation around town for the tourists who visit the town.

Ripley's Believe It or Not has noted numerous details about the city: The Basin Park Hotel is built on a hill, so that people can enter from ground level at all eight stories. The Palace Bath House has the first neon sign west of the Mississippi River. Penn Memorial Baptist Church connects to three different streets at three different levels and has three addresses. St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church is the only church that is entered through the bell tower. The town's winding, hilly, curved streets form 16 "S's", a large "O", and numerous "U's" and "V's," yet the town has no perpendicular street crossings.

It is home to one of few outdoor staircases not attached to a street that is considered a street by the United States Postal Service. Having no level spot in town large enough for a rodeo, circus, or baseball diamond was another fact that Ripley included. (A stadium was built in 1948 after an area had been made level enough, but this was torn down and an athletic field, known as Van Pelt Stadium, was built in the 1980s).

History


The Eureka Springs area had a reputation as a destination for people seeking health well before the first European American pioneers reached Arkansas. Several old Native American legends tell of a Great Healing Spring in the Eureka Springs area.

This reputation continued as Europeans arrived and the waters of the springs gained a reputation of having magical powers. Within a short time Eureka Springs was transformed into a flourishing city, spa, and tourist destination. Dr. Alvah Jackson first located the spring and claimed that the waters of Basin Spring had cured his eye ailments in 1856. Dr. Jackson established a hospital in a local cave during the American Civil War and used the waters from Basin Spring to treat his patients. After the war Jackson marketed the spring waters as "Dr. Jackson's Eye Water." The Ozarka Water Company was later formed in Eureka Springs in 1905.

In 1879 Judge J.B. Saunders, a friend of Jackson, claimed that his crippling disease was cured by the spring waters. Saunders started promoting Eureka Springs to friends and family members across the State and created a boomtown. Within a period of little more than one year, the city grew from a rural spa village to a major city of 10,000 people, most of which were visitors.

There are stories of Jesse James and his gang using the area as a hideout. Carry A. Nation moved here towards the end of her life and founded Hatchet Hall on Steele St., which is closed as a museum today. Bonnie and Clyde also went through Eureka Springs. The only bank robbery Eureka Springs had was September 27, 1922, when five outlaws from Oklahoma tried to rob the First National Bank, three of which were killed, and the other two wounded. None of the five was either Bonnie or Clyde.

On February 14, 1880, Eureka Springs was incorporated as a city. Thousands of visitors came to the springs based on Saunders' promotion and covered the area with tents and shanties. The U S Census never exceeded 5,000 people, and in 1880 it was 3,984; in 1890 it was 3,706; in 1900 it was 3,572; and went down from there. A special census was done in the 1880s showing 5,000 people, in addition to thousands of visitors. In 1881 Eureka Springs enjoyed the status of Arkansas's fourth largest city, and in 1889 it was the second largest city behind Little Rock.

After his term as a Reconstruction Governor, Powell Clayton moved to heavily Unionist Eureka Springs and began promoting the city and its commercial interests. Clayton promoted the town as a retirement community for the wealthy. Eureka Springs soon became known for gracious living and a wealthy lifestyle.

The town's most famous citizen was Claude Albert Fuller, who rose from one of the poorest families in town to become one of the most powerful politicians, not only in Arkansas, but in the United States from 1898 to 1938.

In 1882 the Eureka Improvement Company was formed to attract a railroad to the city. With completion of the railroad, Eureka Springs established itself as one of the premier vacation resorts of the Victorian era. It had thousands of homes and commercial enterprises constructed in only two years. The Crescent Hotel was built in 1886 and the Basin Park Hotel in 1905. These many Victorian buildings have been well preserved, forming a coherent streetscape that has been recognized for its quality.

The city is also the site of Thorncrown Chapel, an award-winning contemporary building designed by E. Fay Jones and constructed in 1980. The chapel was selected for the 2006 "Twenty-five Year Award" by the American Institute of Architects, which recognizes structures that have had significant influence on the profession. Because of the special nature of its high quality of architecture, the chapel was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

Lifestyle and people
Eureka Springs has a unique eclectic mix of people and lifestyles, including artists, retirees, families and a sizable gay and lesbian population. The city is proud of its reputation as a diversity haven for those of all walks of life. It was home to WPA-era muralist Louis Freund (one of his murals may be viewed at the Bank of Eureka Springs), jeweler Elsa Freund (named one of the foremost jewelry designers of the 1950s), novelist Constance Wagner, painter Tommy Thomas, and many others. Later, culinary writer and children's book author Crescent Dragonwagon, dubbed by USA Today "the most interesting person in Eureka Springs", made her home there for 33 years. With her late husband Ned Shank, she co-founded both the first bed-and-breakfast inn in the town, Dairy Hollow House, and later the non-profit Writer's Colony at Dairy Hollow.

Events
Eureka Springs hosts a variety of events throughout the year. The town is a popular destination for artists, poets, church groups, and sculptors from around the world.

Blues (with such artists as Taj Mahal, Muddy Waters, Ray Charles and Keb' Mo' performing), jazz, folk, and classical music, are each celebrated with a weekend dedicated to the particular genre each year. Each summer, Opera in the Ozarks presents full operatic productions with orchestra and a cast of pre-professional students.

A well-attended poetry festival is held each year. There is extensive local theater, with many productions held at the large stone auditorium, built in the city's downtown in 1929 and inaugurated with a concert by John Phillip Sousa.

There are four annual gay and lesbian events called Diversity Weekends. The city also boasts an annual UFO conference and several motorcycle and auto shows, including a Mustang show in April, Corvette show the first weekend in October and a Volkswagen show in August. The town is also a destination for religious tourists visiting various Christian-themed attractions, including the Little Portion Hermitage, founded by prominent Christian musician John Michael Talbot.

The film Pass the Ammo, featuring Annie Potts, Tim Curry, and Bill Paxton, was filmed in the city, with the Auditorium featured in several scenes. There are burn marks still visible on the Auditorium from the film's special effects. The movie Chrystal, with Billy Bob Thornton, was filmed in Eureka Springs. Parts of the movie Elizabethtown starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst were filmed in Eureka Springs as well as Oklahoma City and Guthrie, along with the more obvious locations in Kentucky. The 1982 mini series "The Blue and the Gray" was also filmed around the area. The SciFi Channel's reality series Ghost Hunters investigated the Crescent Hotel during episode 13 of the second season.

Each May, Eureka Springs hosts the May Fine Arts Festival, a celebration of the art, music, and creativity that is one of the defining features of the Eureka community. The festival begins in the first weekend in May with the Artrageous Parade, a collection of all things artsy. Some additional events during the festival include: A Gallery Stroll, takes place during the second Saturday of each month and allows viewers to tour the galleries in town and meet the artists featured within each gallery and a PT Cruiser's show on the second Saturday. Shakespeare in the Ozarks, an outdoor Shakespeare in the Park festival, opens its first summer season in 2010, plus Books in Bloom, a Grand Illumination, White Street Studio Walk, and ART Car Festival highlight events during the month. Every weekend, Basin Park hosts Music in the Park, an opportunity for live music and festivities.

Geography and environment


Eureka Springs is located at 36.40306°N, -93.73833°W (36.403068, -93.738450). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.9 sqmi, of which 6.8 sqmi is land and 0.1 sqmi (2.02%) is water.

The city was originally founded when the hot springs at this location were more evident. Over-extraction of hot water from the springs has greatly diminished their flow rates. As with many natural hot springs, the hot springs here are a location of extremophile biota occurrence.

List Of Highways

 * [[Image:US 62 (1961).svg|20px]] U.S. Highway 62
 * Arkansas 23.svg Arkansas Highway 23

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,278 people, 1,119 households, and 569 families residing in the city. The population density was 336.2 people per square mile (129.7/km²). There were 1,301 housing units at an average density of 192.0 per square mile (74.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.94% White, 0.04% Black or African American, 0.70% Native American, 0.79% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 2.28% from other races, and 2.15% from two or more races. 3.99% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 1,119 households, of which 19.2% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.4% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.1% are classified as non-families by the United States Census Bureau. Of 1,119 households, 54 are unmarried partner households: 36 heterosexual, 10 same-sex male, and 8 same-sex female households. 41.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.97 and the average family size was 2.64.

In the city the population was spread out with 17.2% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 33.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 81.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,547, and the median income for a family was $40,341. Males had a median income of $27,188 versus $17,161 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,439. About 4.4% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.7% of those under age 18 and 13.0% of those age 65 or over.

Media
For television, Eureka Springs is served by the market based out of Springfield, Missouri. On cable, the Springfield affiliates can be received as well as a couple of stations in Fayetteville/Fort Smith as well as all four Little Rock stations.

The local newspaper in town is the weekly Lovely County Citizen, published in tabloid print format and distributed free on Wednesday afternoons. The Carroll County News is published twice weekly and sold in town, although it is found less commonly than the Citizen. The Northwest Arkansas edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is the only daily newspaper distributed throughout the town.

Notable people

 * Pat Burrell, professional baseball player, San Francisco Giants.

Points of interest

 * Blue Spring Heritage Center
 * Onyx Cave
 * Thorncrown Chapel
 * World's Largest Tuned Musical Windchime
 * The Great Passion Play
 * Christ of the Ozarks
 * Museum of Earth History
 * Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railway
 * Quigleys Castle
 * Crescent Hotel
 * Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge