Part 8

It would take many pages to list all the men and women, now dead or moved away, who contributed to the building of the town. I name only a few whom I have special reason to remember--Charley Stehm, Major J. W. True, Claude Pike, Harvey Fuller, Floyd Walker, W. N. Duncan, Dr. C. E. Davis, B. J. Rosewater, Dr. C. F. Ellis, Prof. C. S. Barnett, W. O. Perkins, Col. C. D. James, Mrs. Adelaide Wayland, Albert G. Ingalls, A. Q. Burns, William Kappen, H. T. Pendergrass, Dr. J. S. Porch, A. L. Hess, Major W. E. Penn, Earl Newport, Louie Webber, Louie Haneke, Eaton Cole, Dr. J. F. John, Dr. J. H. Webb, Dr. Charles Bergstresser, Dr. Pearl Tateman, Arch Kimberling, George Hardy, Harry Wickham, Lucien Gray, B. L. Rosser, Miss Nellie Mills, Mrs. Ida Wilhelm, A. J. Fortner, Mr. and Mrs. George Hurt, Dr. J. H. Huntington, Herman and Hugo Seidel, L. E. Lines, John Jennings, Dr. R. G. Floyd and M. M. Chandler. This list is very inadequate but, as stated above, it includes only those that I have special reason to remember. In the books written on Eureka Springs by Nellie Mills and Cora Pinkley Call will be found more complete lists of the old residents.

It took World War II to start an influx of homeseekers toward the Ozarks. This invasion came as an aftermath of the war and Eureka Springs received its share. At the opportune time, Marge Lyon and her genial husband, Robert ("the jedge"), moved into the community and Marge began telling the story of Eureka Springs and the Ozarks to a vast audience of readers with her column, "Marge of Sunrise Mountain Farm" in the Chicago Tribune. Marge was influential in starting thousands of people in quest of the fuller life of the countryside. Retirement people flocked to Eureka Springs to buy homes; others came to go into business. By 1950, Eureka Springs had been given the nickname, "Little Chicago," because of the large number of people from that area.

The town of Eureka Springs owes Marge Lyon a vast debt of gratitude. Her lucid lines have lured thousands of visitors to the hills, many of whom came to stay and are now happily located far from the city's noise and confusion. They have helped balance the town's economy and have added to the culture and social life of the community.

In 1946, I located Ozark Guide magazine at Eureka Springs and have given the community a national journalistic voice that has an influence in bringing both tourists and homeseekers. Eureka Springs is the only Ozark town having an Ozark magazine with national spread. It lays the magic carpet for exit from the confusion of the city to the land of Ozark enchantment.

The assimilation of the newcomers into the social and economic life of the town has been successful. The ratio of newcomers to natives is now about fifty-fifty. It is almost impossible to tell an old-timer from a newcomer. The melting pot is doing its work.

* * * * * * * *

Eureka Springs is one of the two cities in Arkansas having a commission form of government. The other city is Fort Smith. In 1918, this system was adopted for our town. It provides for a commission of three persons, one of whom is selected to act as mayor. The present commission is composed of Mayor A. J. Russell, Ray Freeman and Col. C. C. King. Mr. Russell has been mayor for fourteen years.

Eureka Springs is a city of churches with the following denominations: Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Christian, Assembly of God Nazarene, Episcopalian, Christian Science and Catholic. The Presbyterians have the oldest church building. It was built in 1886 following the completion of the Crescent Hotel. The same stone masons built both buildings.

The school system of the city is one of the best in the South. A modern building was erected in 1951 and it is the last word in convenience. Both the elementary and high schools have "A" ratings.

Eureka Springs has a full quota of civic, fraternal and patriotic organizations such as: the Masons, Elks, I.O.O.F., Rotarians, Lions, American Legion, Chamber of Commerce, Tourist Council, Woman's Club, Music Club, Ozark Artists and Writers Guild, home demonstration clubs, and others. The American Legion hut is one of the finest in the state. The social life of the community is enriched with many cultural and recreational activities throughout the year.

We have a modern post office building with Cecil Walker as postmaster. Carroll County is one of the nine or ten counties of Arkansas that have two county seats. It has courthouses both at Berryville and Eureka Springs. Our courthouse is secondary but represents the western district of the county and has offices for both county and city officials, a court room, and a jail which is vacant most of the time.

Modern comforts and conveniences make Eureka Springs a pleasant place to live. Electricity is supplied at reasonable rates by the Southwestern Gas and Electric Company. Natural gas was installed in the late forties by the Arkansas Western Gas Company. This fuel is both convenient and inexpensive and a great asset to the town. The municipal water supply is adequate for any emergency. The city lake is fed by sixteen springs, and a deep well, dug recently. Bonds were voted a year or two ago for the rebuilding of the city's sewer system and the disposal plant. Most of the streets of the city are paved. Telephones are available for both business and home use.

For recreation, we have the Harmon Playgrounds, equipped with playground equipment and stage, and lights for night use. It has a playground supervisor during the summer months. The city auditorium seats about 1200 people and is the town's amusement center for shows, concerts and festivals. The Basin Circle Park is equipped with seats and has a stage for concerts and other entertainments. The New Basin Theatre, owned and operated by Cecil Maberry, is air conditioned and has a change of program three times a week. The American Legion sponsors square dancing at the city auditorium on Saturday nights. Throughout the week there is dancing at the Basin Park and Crescent hotels. Other recreation features of the community are: swimming at Lake Lucerne, Lake Leatherwood, the Camp Joy pool, and Kings and White rivers; fishing and boating at Lake Leatherwood and the rivers; White River float trips; golf at Lake Lucerne; horseback riding, scenic motor drives, and hiking. Places of interest to tourists include: Onyx Cave, Inspiration Point, The Castle, Blue Spring, Quigley's Castle, Pivot Rock and Natural Bridge, the Ozark Museum, Hatchet Hall, Birdhaven, the Bracken Doll Museum, the Old Rock House, the springs (63 of them), the Basin Circle Park, Harmon Playgrounds, St. Elizabeth Church, the views from East Mountain and the top of the Crescent Hotel, the Narrows, Beaver, White River, Kings River, Hog Scald, Penitentiary Hollow and Revilo Ranch.

Eureka Springs has two bath houses and a modern hospital. It has two printing plants, one of which publishes the Eureka Springs Times-Echo and prints Rayburn's Ozark Guide. The volunteer fire department has a new truck and modern equipment, and the city police force is adequate for local needs. The town has modern motels and cafes, most of which remain open through the year. Outstanding antique and gift shops are located here. Practically all lines of mercantile business and services are represented at Eureka Springs. We have one bank, four lawyers, three doctors, one optometrist and one undertaker.

In 1948, Eureka Springs had its first Ozark Folk Festival, directed by Robert Serviss. Mr. Serviss got the backing of a number of local business men and formed the Folk Festival Association. Serviss directed the festival again in 1949. During the next two years, the late Harry Wilk, who was president of the Chamber of Commerce, and Ned Bailey, secretary of the organization, put on the festival and extended it from three days to a full week. In 1952, the Festival Association was incorporated and Grover Roark elected president. I directed the festivals in 1952, 1953 and 1954. In 1954 people from twenty-seven states attended this event. The festival, held in mid-October, has developed into an immense jamboree and attracts thousands of visitors.

XXXIV UNUSUAL ENTERPRISES

One of the treasured thoroughfares of Old Eureka Springs was the foot bridge which spanned the canyon at the rear of the stone building, now the Sweet Spring Apartments. The south terminus of this unusual structure was at the rear of Jim Black's shoe shop. It was a short cut to the business section on Spring Street in the vicinity of Sweet, Harding and Crescent Springs. The original Sweet Spring was in the hollow at the rear of the post office to the left of the bridge. This spring was tapped higher up on the bluff when Spring Street was laid out.

Another unusual structure was the "Bridge Studio" built by Sam A. Leath and Steele Kennedy in 1931. The site of this covered bridge, built for artists and writers, was at the tourist court owned by these two men--Camp Leath, now Mount Air. It was built across a ravine at the rear of the court and was a little more than 100 feet in length. Leath and Kennedy were the sole builders of this structure and their methods stand unique in the annals of engineering. The two ends of the bridge were built alternately, section by section, coming together in the center. After building one end, the opposite position was accurately located by Kennedy with a small bore rifle. A board was held by Leath at the north end of the bridge, indicating where the top deck at that point would be. Kennedy placed the shot at the exact point desired. The trueness of the shot was later proved with a level when the two approaches were closed with the central span.

The "Bridge Studio" was built for the artists and writers of the Ozarks. The lower deck had five compartments fitted with chairs, tables and lights. The doors were never locked.

A large crowd attended the dedication of the "Bridge Studio" on May 3, 1931. Dr. Charles H. Brough, World War I governor of Arkansas, was the speaker. The story of the unique bridge and its idealistic purpose was told in newspapers throughout the land. But it was a dream that soon faded. When Sam Leath sold his court in the middle thirties and became manager of the Chamber of Commerce at Harrison, the "Bridge Studio" was torn down.

A unique business enterprise in the early days at Eureka Springs was the C. H. McLaughlin grocery, said to be one of the cleanest, best equipped and best arranged groceries in the United States. Mr. McLaughlin built "a better mouse trap" and the world made a beaten path to his door.

Another interesting project, located four miles north of Eureka Springs, was Elk Ranch, operated by Gen. Geo. W. Russ and the Riverside Land and Livestock Company from 1902 to about 1917. This ranch contained about 1,500 acres and the principal enterprise was the breeding of blooded horses. It received its name from the herd of elk that had the run of the ranch. This herd numbered about 130 at one time.

A recent project, built by Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Quigley on their farm four miles south of Eureka Springs is "Quigley's Castle." It has been called the Ozarks' strangest dwelling. It is a large stone house with the outer walls covered with great flat stones set on edge and held together with cement. These walls are covered with small, colorful picture rocks and fossils which Mrs. Quigley picked up over a period of years. She engineered the building of the house and placed the rocks in position. These walls are a geological treasury.

The inside of Quigley's Castle is a botanical garden and family home. The light enters through eight large picture windows. The rooms are built independent of the outer walls with the first floor three feet from the ground and a four foot space between wall and room. In this space grow many varieties of both tropical and Ozark plants such as rubber trees, rose bushes, oleanders and a banana tree. Some of these plants grow to a height of twenty-five feet, extending almost to the roof. The second floor has a waist-high railing built around the rooms to prevent stepping off into space. Small bridges permit passage across the chasm at points of entry.

The iron dog which once stood on the pedestal in the Basin Circle where the soldier monument now stands is a missing link in the Eureka Springs story. Photographs made from about 1907 to the early thirties show this dog. According to the old timers, this iron monster, which weighed 400 pounds, once belonged to a family named Squires and was an ornament in the yard of their home on the hillside at the rear of the Basin Park Hotel. One Halloween night about 1907 the boys moved the iron dog to the park and set it on the pedestal. In bringing it down the path back of the hotel they broke off its tail. The city authorities let it remain on the pedestal until in the thirties, when it disappeared and the soldier monument took its place. No one seems to know what became of the dog, but it is reported that it may be seen in the yard of a home at Springfield, Missouri.

Old-timers will remember "Old Chapultepec," the cannon which was captured by United States troops during the battle of Chapultepec in the Mexican War and brought to Eureka Springs by General Powell Clayton when he located here in the early 1880's. In 1933 J. Rosewater had an article on this old relic in an Arkansas newspaper. Quote:

"In the yard of the Missouri and North Arkansas railway at Eureka Springs, the wood in its once sturdy wheels so decayed they provide a very wobbly support, stands a muzzle-loading cannon, so old that few in this community know its history, or how it came to be in the depot yard.

"Old-timers said the cannon was called 'Old Chapultepec,' and that it was captured by United States troops during the war with Mexico at the battle of Chapultepec in 1847. It saw service during the Civil war and was left at Little Rock, where Gen. Powell Clayton, Reconstruction governor of Arkansas after the Civil war, obtained it and brought it to Eureka Springs in 1882, while making his home here after he ceased to be governor.

"For years it was displayed at public places in the city and at one time stood on the lawn of the Crescent Hotel. General Clayton gave it to the city and it was moved to the depot, Clayton being interested in the Missouri and North Arkansas railway, which was known then as the St. Louis and Eureka Springs railway and terminated at Eureka Springs. Several years later a group known as the Civic Improvement Association built an inclosure and a pedestal for the cannon.

"The cannon stands on a carriage about 3½ feet high. The barrel is almost five feet long and about six inches in diameter at the muzzle. Near the breech is a small touch hole where powder was used to fire the piece. The cannon can be moved up or down on the carriage, but to aim it right or left it is necessary to turn the carriage. Apparently the gun was fired in the general direction of the enemy during battle.

"Eureka Springs citizens used to pull it to a mountain top and fire it on July 4 or to celebrate some political victory, but this custom has long since ceased."

"Old Chapultepec" was sacrificed for scrap metal during World War II and at the close of the war the government sent the city a captured German howitzer which was placed in the Basin Circle where it now stands.

One of the highly prized memorials of our "Stair-Step-Town" is the Kerens Chapel and the St. Elizabeth's Church which is widely known as "the church entered through the steeple." This is misleading as the entry is through a detached belfry and then down a stone corridor and steps to the chapel and church. The chapel was built as a family memorial in 1907 by Richard Kerens, a St. Louis capitalist, who was one of the owners of the Crescent Hotel. Mr. and Mrs. Kerens and their children, Vincent, Richard, Jr., and Gladys, spent three or four months of each year at the Crescent. Mr. Kerens' mother sometimes accompanied them.

One day Mr. Kerens and his mother were on the promenade at the south end of the hotel talking. As they talked a boy approached Mr. Kerens with a telegram. It was a notification from Washington that he had been appointed ambassador to Austria. He immediately packed his bags and took a carriage to the railroad station. As the vehicle crossed the spot where the chapel now stands he waved good-by to his mother who was standing on the promenade. That was the last time he saw her for she died while he was abroad.

When Mr. Kerens returned to this country he began making plans for a memorial to his parents. He wanted it located on the exact spot where he last saw his mother. He secured the land and had the hillside properly terraced with a thirty foot reinforcement wall. This wall was set eight feet in the ground and was five feet thick at the base in order to give it a solid foundation. The foundation of the chapel went down eighteen feet to make it secure. The structure was dedicated in 1907. Two years later, Mr. Kerens financed the building of St. Elizabeth's Church adjacent to the chapel, combining the two buildings. It is one of the most beautiful little churches in America and is visited by thousands of tourists each year.

Perhaps the most unusual enterprise in Eureka Springs is the lay-out of the town itself. Was it built haphazardly or with definite plan? Powell Clayton and other city fathers probably knew, but they long ago passed to their rewards. They were inspired men and had great faith in the future of the fabulous City of Springs.

XXXV THE OUTLOOK

We have had a long look at the past and a peep at the present. What of the future? In my opinion, the outlook for Eureka Springs is good. We have a problem, but its solution is not impossible if we have faith in the town as the founders had. The big problem of Eureka Springs is to operate successfully on a strictly tourist income and meet the competition of other Ozark resorts. We hear complaints that the season is too short and the tourist patronage too light. The town was originally intended as a health resort, based upon the curative properties of the water from the springs. This slant is now secondary to recreation. Our chief difficulty is in providing sufficient attractions to hold tourists more than a day or two. This problem must be solved or we will gradually fade out of the picture.

The building of two dams on White River, at Table Rock and at Beaver, will have a great influence on Eureka Springs' economy. These dams will provide large lakes for recreational purposes. They will be within a few minutes drive of our city. We now have approximately 150,000 visitors a year but the average stay is only a day or two. When the lakes are completed, we should have 500,000 or more tourists a year and they should remain an average of five or six days. These figures are based on what has happened at the Lake of the Ozarks and at Norfork and Bull Shoals. Of course, it will require extensive advertising to meet competition. Our facilities for housing and entertaining tourists will have to be enlarged. The population of Eureka Springs should gradually increase during the next few years. With the most scenic location in the Ozarks, with flowing springs such as other towns do not have, with nearness to two lakes with the best of fishing and water sports, it is not extravagant to visualize the population of Eureka Springs as doubled within a few years.

Appropriations have been made to start Table Rock Dam and the contract has been let. Work started on November 2nd and will continue four or five years. It is estimated that the building of this structure will boost the region's economy at least $50,000,000. Of course, Branson, Missouri will profit most for the dam will be located eight miles above the town, but other communities of the region will benefit also. The headwaters of the reservoir will reach within a few miles of Eureka Springs.

Beaver Dam has been approved by both houses of Congress, but appropriations have not yet been made. If these appropriations are made next year, work should get started by 1956 and the structure completed about the same time as Table Rock. The Beaver Dam will be located about ten miles southwest of Eureka Springs and it will be a big factor in promoting the growth of the community.

For a balanced economy a resort town needs a few small industries. With the coming of the lakes it should be possible to locate a few factories here that will provide substantial pay rolls. These industries should harmonize with the recreational background. Homecrafts should be encouraged.

The unofficial reports of the population of Eureka Springs in the 1880's and 1890's range from 5,000 to 15,000. Old-timers say that the population peak was reached about the year 1888. The official census records at the Bureau of Census in Washington do not agree with these unofficial reports, being considerably less. It is possible that the unofficial count took in people who lived outside the city limits, or who were not permanent residents. At any rate, here is the report from the Bureau of Census:

1880, 3,984--1890, 3,706--1900, 3,572--1910, 3,228--1920, 2,429--1930, 2,276--1940, 1,770--1950, 1,958.

These figures show that the town had its largest official population in 1880, its first year, and gradually decreased, reaching an all-time low at the end of the depression in 1940. Then an increase began. The city limits have been extended and a conservative estimate of the population at this present time is around 2,100. This increase should go to 3,000 by 1960, and to 4,000 by 1970. When the town reaches its Centennial in 1979, it should have a sound economic basis and a population about double what it is now.

FOONOTES

[1]The Eureka Springs (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, May 15, 1884) Page 5.

[2]Ibid., Page 8.

[3]The Eureka Springs by W. W. Johnson, M. D., Eureka Springs, Arkansas, 1884, pages 6-8.

[4]The Healing Fountain: Eureka Springs, Ark.: A Complete History. Eureka Springs, Arkansas, 1881, page 4.

[5]Volume 1, pages 163-167.

[6]The Healing Fountain: Eureka Springs, Ark. 1881. Pages 3 and 4.

[7](Eureka Springs, Arkansas) 1952 pp. 18-20.

[8]We acknowledge credit to Mr. Sam A. Leath for the historical data of this narrative.

[9]The Eureka Springs, (1881), pp. 10-11.

[10]The material for this story was supplied by the late Louis Hanecke, Sam A. Leath and Steele Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy and others wrote feature articles about it which appeared in Sunday newspapers a few years ago.

[11]The Healing Fountain, Eureka Springs (1881), p. 12.

[12]The Healing Fountain: Eureka Springs, Ark. pp. 22-24.

[13]Pp. V-VIII.

[14]Rayburn's Ozark Guide, No. 33, Summer, 1952, p. 31.

[15]The Healing Fountain: Eureka Springs. p. 7.

[16]Life and Adventures of John Gaskins. p. XII.

[17]Rayburn's Ozark Guide, No. 15, Spring, 1947, pp. 7-10.

[18]See my Ozark Country. pp. 283-286.

(Note. The tavern operated by the uncle of the James boys was located at the spot now occupied by the Phillips 66 station and grocery on U. S. Highway 62.)

[19](New York), 1952. pp. 42-43.

[20]Compare with the chapter on Hog Scald in my Ozark Country, pp. 244-246.

Transcriber's Notes

--Silently corrected a few palpable typos.

--Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.

--In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Eureka Springs Story, by Otto Ernest Rayburn