Eternal Guests at The Crescent Hotel

The front entrance of the Crescent Hotel

Designed by the famed architect Isaac L. Taylor, the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas opened in 1886, but the building has gone through a number of owners and different uses during its life. Unable to financially sustain itself as a hotel, the business was closed and the building was empty for several years until it re-opened in 1908 as the Crescent College and Conservatory for Young Women. The school proved to be a failure as well and closed its doors in 1924. Once again the building was abandoned until it was repaired and opened as a junior college in 1930. The junior college was a failure as well and classes were suspended in 1934. Several years later, it was leased, repaired and used as a summer hotel until a new owner, Norman Baker, purchased the building and turned it into a hospital and health resort. The basement was turned into a morgue.

Baker, a flamboyant maverick of a man who had no lack of self-confidence, had made several million dollars with a couple of his inventions, but he didn't consider himself just an inventor, he considered himself a doctor of the highest order. The fact that he was a high school drop-out, former vaudeville magician and had absolutely no medical training was, in his eyes, a trivial matter. He came to Arkansas because he had been ran out of Iowa for practicing medicine without a license, but he claimed organized medicine had conspired against him because he had found cures for a number of ailments, including cancer.

For several years, sick and dying people were treated in the Baker hospital with Baker's cure which consisted of a "magic elixir" painfully delivered via large needles 5 - 7 times every day. Eventually, after much suffering and numerous deaths, Baker's magic elixir was found by chemists to consist only of spring water, watermelon seed, brown corn silk, carbolic acid and a healthy dose of alcohol.  He was convicted of using the mail to defraud and sentenced to prison for 4 years. The Baker Hospital closed its doors and the pain, anguish and death within the walls of the building mercifully came to an end.

Front entry door

The building sat forlorn and empty until 1946 when new owners took it over and began restoring the old girl back to her former grandeur as a hotel. The workers were horrified to find dozens of human bodies secreted away in various places. Although never proven, rumors persist that workers also found jars containing preserved body parts stashed away in closets. There were stories while the building sat vacant of noises, of human moans, and sightings of people who walked through walls or simply vanished, but the rumors were dismissed as alcoholic hallucinations by the derelicts who took refuge in the building at night or simply ghost stories told by teenage boys.

Room 218

Michael

After reopening as an upscale hotel, the ghostly stories continued, but now they were told by regular, upstanding citizens who had nothing to gain by telling such tales. Numerous times, guests in Room 218 would come downstairs to the front desk demanding to be moved to another room because of "a screaming noise" or an unexplained light which bounced around the room. Upon investigation, the hotel management found that during the initial construction in 1886, a worker named Michael had fallen to his death from the top of the building where he had been installing stonework. Where he landed and instantly died was now the floor of room 218. In current times, guests often report the lights coming on or going off for no reason. The television will be turned on in the middle of the night when the rooms mortal occupants are asleep. This may happen several times, but if you will say in a firm voice, "Michael, stop it! I'm trying to sleep so stop bothering me!" then it will not happen for the rest of the night. Michael seems to like women. Female guests have reported being awakened in the night by someone lightly brushing their arm or cheek, but upon opening their eyes, nobody is there and the touch vanishes.

Room 419

Theodora

Room 419 is known as Theodora's room. Records are a bit confusing as to whether Theodora was a cancer patient or a hospital worker. It has been speculated she was a nurse who became stricken with cancer while employed at the hospital and then became a patient until she died in room 419. Guest report jewelry being moved, sometimes going from on top of the desk into a drawer. Both men and women report being lightly touched while laying in bed asleep. There have also been voices and unexplained noises captured by tape recorders left running at night in the empty room.

Room 424

Guests and staff have told of a nurse dressed in white who is seen pushing a hospital bed down the 4th floor hallway who vanishes as she turns into room 424. Guests staying in that room report the locked door opening and then slamming shut with no one around it. Voices are also heard and male guests have complained of being awakened at night by unseen hands roughly pushing them out of bed. Perhaps the patient in room 424 was female and the protective nurse doesn't appreciate a man in her patient's bed!

Lobby of the Crescent Hotle

In the lobby area, guests and hotel employees both have reported witnessing a man in an old-fashioned suit pacing back and forth. Upon being spoken to, he will look at you, but will not respond. Not verbally anyway. He turns away and vanishes as he walks into a wall.

Rocking chairs on the Crescent Hotel balcony

A young female student who lived at the Crescent when it was a college has apparently never left. Records indicate she either fell or was pushed off the balcony to her death. Late night visitors on the balcony tell of hearing an eerie fading female scream. And even on nights when there is no breeze, one of the balcony's rocking chairs will sometimes be seen gently rocking back and forth even as the others sit perfectly still.

Stairs where the lady in white has been seen

Lady in white

The misty figure of a lady in white is sometimes seen coming down the stairs. She's appears to be as real and human as any other living person, but then you will notice she seems to be gliding down the stairs rather than walking down them. Look closely and you will see she stays a few inches above the ground. As she passes, you will not feel the warmness of a human body, but a cloud of coldness. And as you turn to look, she will have vanished.

Suspected young girl
who pokes people

Not all patients treated here were adults. There were children with cancer too and they, like the grownups, suffered and did not survive. There is one playful little girl who likes to laugh and play tricks on the unsuspecting. Her name or her story is not known, but her child's laughter is often heard. She likes to gently poke people or tug on earlobes. If you feel someone touch you and hear a little girl laughing, don't bother to turn around - someone may be there, but you will not see them.

Eureka Springs, Arkansas is an old, quaint, tourist town with a well deserved reputation as a destination for an interesting 3-day weekend or longer. And the Crescent Hotel is well deserving of its reputation. Reserve a room and stay for a night or two - if you have the courage. It's not suggested you do it alone though.