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Eureka Springs, Arkansas
—  City  —
Spring Street and "Flat Iron" building, 2008 Spring Street and "Flat Iron" building, 2008
Location in Carroll County and the state of Arkansas
Coordinates: 36°24′11″N 93°44′18″W / 36.40306°N 93.73833°W / 36.40306; -93.73833Coordinates: 36°24′11″N 93°44′18″W / 36.40306°N 93.73833°W / 36.40306; -93.73833
Country	United States
State	Arkansas
County	Carroll
Area
• Total	6.9 sq mi (18 km2)
• Land	6.8 sq mi (17.6 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.4 km2)
Elevation	1,260 ft (384 m)
Population (2010)[1]
• Total	2,073
• Density	300/sq mi (120/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes	72631-72632
Area code(s)	479
FIPS code	05-22240
GNIS feature ID	0048926
Website	City Website
Eureka Springs Historic District (Boundary Increase)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Location:	S. Main, Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Area:	5 acres (2.0 ha)
Built:	1913
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	79003730[2]
Added to NRHP:	January 29, 1979

Eureka Springs is a city in Carroll County, Arkansas. Along with Berryville, it is one of the two county seats for the county.^[3] It is located in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 2,073.^[1] The entire city is on the National Register of Historic Places as the Eureka Springs Historic District, and a popular tourist destination.

Eureka Springs is a unique Victorian resort village. 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. Eureka Springs has been selected as one of America's Distinctive Destinations by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

History[link]

Harding Spring, 2008

Thorncrown Chapel, 2006

Native American legends tell of a Great Healing Spring in the Eureka Springs area, and various cultures visited the springs for this sacred purpose.

The European Americans were another culture to consider the springs to have healing powers. After the Europeans arrived, they described the waters of the springs as having magical powers. Within a short time in the late nineteenth cnetury, Eureka Springs was transformed into a flourishing city, spa, and tourist destination. Dr. Alvah Jackson was credited in American history with locating the spring and in 1856, claimed that the waters of Basin Spring had cured his eye ailments. Dr. Jackson established a hospital in a local cave during the 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.

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. 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 the 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.

In 1882, the Eureka Improvement Company was formed to attract a railroad to the city. With the completion of the railroad, Eureka Springs established itself as one of the premier vacation resorts of the Victorian era. In only two years, thousands of homes and commercial enterprises were constructed. 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.

Carrie Nation moved here towards the end of her life and founded Hatchet Hall on Steele Street, later operated as a museum, but now closed.

The only bank robbery to occur in Eureka Springs was on September 27, 1922, when five outlaws from Oklahoma tried to rob the First National Bank. Three of the men were killed and two others wounded.

In 1980, the architect E. Fay Jones designed Thorncrown Chapel. It won design awards at the time and in 2006 was selected for the "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 listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

Geography[link]

Eureka Springs is located at 36°24′11″N 93°44′18″W / 36.40306°N 93.73833°W / 36.40306; -93.73833 (36.403068, -93.738450)^[4]. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.9 square miles (18 km²), of which 6.8 square miles (18 km²) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) (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.^[5]

Demographics[link]

As of the census^[6] 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.

Events[link]

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, 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.^[7]

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 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 tourists visiting various attractions, including the Little Portion Hermitage, founded by John Michael Talbot.^[8]

The film Pass the Ammo 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 was filmed in Eureka Springs. Parts of the movie Elizabethtown was filmed in Eureka Springs. 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.^{[9] [10]}

Media[link]

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.

Points of interest[link]

• Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railway
• Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge
• Onyx Cave
• Thorncrown Chapel
• World's Largest Tuned Musical Windchime
• Christ of the Ozarks
• Crescent Hotel

Transportation[link]

• U.S. Route 62
• Arkansas Highway 23

Notable people[link]

• Pat Burrell, professional baseball player, San Francisco Giants.
• James William Trimble, U.S. Representative from Arkansas's 3rd congressional district from 1945 to 1967, died in Eureka Springs but resided in Berryville.

Gallery[link]

• Eurekaandsuch 291.jpg

  Spring Street, 2008

• Eurekaandsuch 221.jpg

  Spring Street at night, 2008

• Eurekaandsuch 281f.jpg

  St. James' Episcopal Church located near the historic Crescent Hotel, 2008

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Arkansas portal

• City of Eureka Springs
• Greater Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce
• Eureka Springs Promotion Commission
• Eureka Springs Artist Registry
• Food of Eureka Springs
• Wind Chime Puts Arkansas Town in Guiness Records from National Public Radio

v t e Municipalities and communities of Carroll County, Arkansas, United States County seats: Berryville and Eureka Springs Cities Berryville Eureka Springs Green Forest Towns Alpena‡ Beaver Blue Eye Oak Grove CDP Holiday Island Unincorporated communities Busch Carrollton Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

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