I live in a small tourist town in Northwest Arkansas in the Ozark Mountains called Eureka Springs. It’s a town of only 2000 but we get over a half a million visitors a year. We’re known for being one of the more eclectic and art centered towns in the United States and some other stuff.
Eureka Springs is home to some of the most haunted hotels and houses in the world. No kidding, we have a thriving Ghost Tour Industry. I was part of the Ghost Tour Bizz for awhile but I’ll let ya’ in on that in a bit. Our centerpiece is a hotel that has been named 'The Most Haunted Hotel in the US' due to it being home to one of the largest medical hoaxes in US history. The hotel also fuels the ghost industry in town, the infamous Crescent Hotel. The Crescent Hotel is as famous as they come for people in the paranormal circles and, one hell of an imposing structure.
We’re host to the longest running outdoor play in the United States, the Great Passion Play. And, The Great Passion Play is located on the grounds of the Christ of the Ozarks, the 3rd largest statue of Christ in the western hemisphere. The face of the statue is copied from the face of it’s financier, a man of questionable integrity.
John Chissum died here, Carry Nation spoke her last words here and John Phillip Souza was the first band to ever play at the Eureka Springs Auditorium. We have been visited by the James Brothers, Belle Starr and every level of Chicago Mobster there ever was. W.C. Fields got laid here and rumor is, Willy Nelson said the best weed he ever smoked was in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Willy also played ‘The Aud’. The Auditorium or ‘The Aud’ as us locals know it is a cool place, you should look it up.
Every crook, swindler, snake oil salesman and carpetbagger came through this tiny part of the Ozarks on their way west and all made money the old fashioned way… Booze, Prostitution, Gambling and outright cheating. Folks don’t realize that Fort Smith, Arkansas is only 100 miles south of us. True Grit was written about people from the Arkansas Ozarks in the late 1800’s. At that time, Arkansas was the wild west and this small area was it’s hub.
