If you’re someone who likes spooky, haunted places, then you probably know that there are quite a few of them in the great state of Arkansas! Arkansas is full of old houses, battlefields, and old hotels, and it’s no surprise that there are ghosts and spirits from long ago that are still hanging around today. After all, Arkansas is a wonderful place to live and to visit, so it’s no wonder that people choose to stick around even after they’ve passed into the great beyond. Today, we’re going to explore what is perhaps my favorite haunted place in Arkansas, the 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa.
You can find lots of ghosts in Arkansas at places like Peel Mansion in Bentonville, Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock, or at the King Opera House in Van Buren, for starters. However, there is no place in all of The Natural State that is more haunted than the 1886 Crescent Hotel and Spa in Eureka Springs! It’s my favorite haunted place in Arkansas. Read on to learn more about this very special and very spooky hotel.
In 1879, it seems the whole world all at once discovered Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Although Native Americans had been using the healing natural springs in this area for hundreds of years, settlers discovered the springs in the late 1800s, and the town of Eureka Springs sprang up almost overnight. Hotels were constructed to serve the influx of visitors to the area, and the luxurious Crescent Hotel opened for business in 1886. It soon became a hotspot for the rich, famous, and elite.
However, as time passed, this property evolved into many different things over the years. The building operated not only as a hotel but also as a college, a fraudulent hospital, and subsequently as a hotel again. It was damaged in a fire in 1967, but it was restored and continued to operate.
Over all these years, many different things happened inside the walls of the Crescent Hotel – and not all of them were great. As a result, this building has become very, very haunted. In fact, today it is known by many as “America’s Most Haunted Hotel.” It has appeared on 17 different television shows about paranormal events.
Who haunts this property? There is a wide variety of ghosts and ghouls that walk the halls, haunt the rooms, and wander the grounds. A stonemason named Michael fell to his death during the building’s original construction; he haunts Room 218. Patients of fraudulent “doctor” Norman Baker wander the building, too. At least 42 people died in Baker’s hospital during his two years of ownership – and some even consider him to have been a serial killer…