By: Emma Manhire
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV) — The Crescent Hotel was built in the late 1800s in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It’s past haunts the property and guests today, living up to its standard as the most haunted hotel in America.
THE CRESCENT HOTEL’S HISTORY
The Crescent Hotel hasn’t always been just an ordinary hotel. According to the hotel’s website, in 1879 Native Americans came across this “haven of natural springs to have healing properties”. As the town’s community grew, so did its development. Governor Powell Clayton played a major role in Eureka’s growth. After adding a stop from the Frisco Railroad to Eureka Springs, this brought a burst of tourism to the town. This led to the idea of building a luxury spa and hotel for guests to stay in. With modern innovations like an elevator, electric lights, steam heat and private bathrooms, Eureka Springs became a hot spot for wealthy seasonal visitors for 15 years.
In 1902, the Crescent hotel and spa was leased to the Frisco Railroad and due to slow business during the winter seasons. Quickly growing in popularity, the college for women attracted students from all over the country. The Crescent College provided young women with many excellent educational opportunities until 1934.
A few years later in 1937, Norman Baker came along to transform the hotel into a Cancer Clinic. Baker claimed to have found the cure for cancer and shared his findings nationwide through radio broadcasts. His cure: injecting cancer patients with a mixture of corn silk, watermelon seeds, clover, water and carbolic-acid. Baker’s claims turned out to be lies. Several patients did not survive their time spent at Baker’s Cancer Clinic.
THE HOTEL NOW
Throughout the hotel’s history, many lives were lost, ranging from people like hotel guests, a young boy, nurses, or cancer patients. The Crescent Hotel is now a popular attraction for people visiting Eureka Springs. The hotel offers guests a place to rest, host weddings, and event guided ghost tours. Guests have reported seeing and even captured ghost-shaped orbs in photographs.
Dan Bennett moved to Eureka Springs close to 40 years ago. He said the hotel’s spooky history has always fascinated him. Now he has been an official ghost tour guide for the last six years. He shared interesting stories and historical facts from the hotels history.
“In the last couple of decades, this whole paranormal thing has just gotten crazy,” Bennett said. “We get people that come here from all over the world, specifically because of the paranormal activity, which I think is just amazing.”
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
Micheal, one of the ghosts, died trying to impress a young lady walking by. He decided to get her attention by doing a little dance, but then fell off and hit his head on a beam that is part of room 218. This is why the room belongs to him. One night during a ghost hunt stake out, Bennett witnessed paranormal activity in Micheal’s room.
Bennett tells the story best, check this out.
According to Bennett, guests sometimes see a four-year-old boy running throughout the hallways bouncing his red ball that. he played with as a child. The child belonged to the owners of the Women’s College and was adored by the college students. Due to an infection, he passed away at only four years old.
The Crescent Hotel holds many stories from the past and continues to bring tourists in from all over the world. The hotel offers night ghost tours for guests to enjoy.
RECENT DISCOVERIES:
In 2019, a gardener who worked for the hotel, was searching for a spot on the hotel’s property to build a composting area. This search unveiled an important discovery.
“We had no idea it was out there so it was very exciting to find this,” Bennett said.
The hotel staff contacted the University of Arkansas’ Archeological team to help dig up almost 100-year-old bottles and jars. The containers were mostly filled with liquids, except for one. This singular bottle preserved what they discovered to be a bed sore from someone’s backside.
Within the last couple of years, the hotel found 40 death certificates on paper stored in Little Rock, Arkansas, from people who died while staying at Baker’s fraudulent cancer facility. Baker told his staff to burn all evidence if he was to ever get caught, but since these papers were kept in Little Rock, they were never burned.
COMING UP:
This January, the Crescent Hotel will host its Eureka Springs Paranormal weekend. This weekend brings in “ghost-busters” to search for paranormal activity. The hotel closes allowing for the haunted rooms to remain open for the search.
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