As the ghost tour is a paid event for the hotel, details and specifics are kept to a minimum.
An employee dressed in turn-of-the-twentieth-century garb waited for the
tour members to gather in a side room on the top floor. When the time
hit 8, she began the tour with the words, “History [of the hotel] is
inextricably linked to the ghost stories,” an apt description for the
function of these tales. She gave her listeners a brief history of the
hotel, describing the room we were in and giving tidbits of the various
haunts in the building: its importance as an area of healing; the
construction of a hotel for richer guests; its conversion to a women’s
boarding school; its stint as a pseudo-cancer research center; and then
its repurchase and transformation back into a hotel once again intended
for rest and relaxation.
Before we left our starting location, our guide passed around a
clipboard, asking if guests were staying at the hotel and if it was for
the ghost tour. Several of the groups ahead of us marked yes for both
questions. While the summer draws in many visitors due to the
temperature and the beautiful surrounding area, the hotel offers ghost
tour deals in the off-season to encourage visitors that may otherwise
not come. As many of the surrounding shops in the downtown area close
earlier and have sporadic hours during the off-season, the tour most
likely help to bring in visitors for these local businesses as well.
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| Allegedly haunted by a spirit named Michael. |
While it has gone through a series of redesigns, the hotel has kept its
Victorian appearance. The guide took us through the hallways through the
history of the hotel and gave a life to the history that a mere
narrative neglects. The tour guide described to us the various
activities of the women attending the college: how they were required to
have a chaperone and their excitement for an upcoming dance. One of the
ghosts in the hotel, a young man, tends to prefer the company of
females to males and is intent on mischief. The child of a nurse would
run through the hallways for fun. Along with the stories that bring a
smile are the ones that bring sadness: the intense emotion that might
cause a pregnant girl to commit suicide or the potential father to push
her; the suffering of the various patients who stayed for their painful
“treatments”; and, biggest of all, the grief that comes with the loss of
life. Many of the figures in the center of the ghost stories had
relatives in Eureka Springs, and apparently the relatives still live in
the town today; this tie brought a startling reality to the stories the
guide told us. While history can tell us of the general time and people
of an era, ghost stories give us the opportunity to share a more
personal tale of life and death.
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| Some people have reported seeing the ghost of a little girl playing near these stairs. |
The tour guide herself was a pleasant woman who seemed to enjoy her job.
In each location she would gather people closer to her before she began
her tale. In the beginning room, she asked guests whether they had
experienced anything; one of the men chimed in with his own tale. She
encouraged guests to take pictures and engaged them in the stories by
asking about their thoughts. A young girl on the tour enjoyed answering
the questions and liked to try and think of how the people behaved as
they did.
In this way, the tour guide not only told a story, but truly shared it
by engaging guests in the stories and the hotel. This form of
storytelling allows an immersion that is difficult to achieve in other
areas; by participating in the stories, either by speculating on the
true events or by adding their own ghostly encounter, listeners are able
to feel like they are experiencing the history of the hotel itself. The
tour guide was more than just a guide; she established a connection
with the listeners, which in turn allowed the listeners to establish a
connection with the stories.
Many of the stories on the tour featured Norman G. Baker, the founder of
the pseudo-cancer treatment hospital at the Crescent Hotel and its
healing heritage. Much of the suffering within the hotel could be
attributed to Norman Baker, as it was his cancer “cure” that drew
desperate people to their ultimate dying spot. It could easily be said
that his time at the hotel was one of its darkest periods. At the time,
Baker was infamous among the nation for his hospital. The hopes of a
cure drew people from all over the nation, who were willing to try
anything. His presence brought national attention to the Eureka Springs
locale. After he was run out of town, Eureka Springs soon resumed its
normal and hidden life.
Toward the end of the tour, the guide showed a quick clip from the
episode of Ghost Hunters featuring the Crescent Hotel and its history.
In the show, they mention Norman Baker and his hospital, and even
believe that they found evidence that his spirit still walks the hotel’s
walls. The episode drew Eureka Springs and the Crescent Hotel back into
the national conscious; no longer was it a scenic Arkansan getaway, but
a beautiful town filled with intrigue. Both the Crescent Hotel and its
sister, the Basin Park Hotel, have enjoyed the extra burst of attention
Ghost Hunters gave them.
Today, the most haunted rooms require bookings months, if not years, in
advanced, and regulars rooms can be difficult to come by on weekends.
The Crescent’s alleged haunted activity draws in people who may not
otherwise come, gives the hotel life during quieter times of the year,
and is advertised on equal footing with their other offered services.
Ghost stories and the historical atmosphere help to keep this hotel
thriving.
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