Perched high on a hill above the charming town of Eureka Springs the Crescent Hotel was built in 1886 as a chic destination for the well heeled, but quickly fell into ruin. In 1908, it was revamped as the Crescent College, and Conservatory for Young Women. This institution closed down in 1924, and then opened again in 1930 as a junior college. After the college closed in 1934, the Crescent was leased as a summer hotel.
In 1937, its new owner, Norman G. Baker, turned the building into a hospital and health resort. Baker, a millionaire inventor and radio personality, styled himself as a doctor, despite having had no medical training. He claimed to have discovered a number of "cures" for various ailments, including cancer, and launched frequent attacks on organized medicine, which he accused of being corrupt and profit-driven.
Having been run out of Iowa for practicing medicine without a license, Baker moved his cancer patients to Arkansas and advertised his new health resort at the Crescent. His "cure" consisted primarily of drinking the area's natural spring water. In 1940, federal charges were filed against Baker for mail fraud and he spent four years in prison. The Crescent Hotel was left ownerless until 1946. In the spring of 1946, the Crescent Hotel was purchased by John R. Constantine, Herbert E. Shutter, Herbert Byfield, and Dwight Nichols. On March 15, 1967, the hotel was nearly burned to the ground. The only living owner at this time was Dwight Nichols.
In 1997, Marty and Elise Roenigk purchased the Crescent Hotel for $1.3 million. They oversaw a six-year restoration and renovation of the hotel rooms. Marty Roenigk died in a car crash in 2009; Elise Roenigk remains the hotel's current owner.
The Cresent Hotel has been featured on numerous paranormal T.V. shows, and documentaries where ghost hunters claim that the hotel was indeed haunted by its previous inhabitants.
My hope is that this trackable encourages anyone with a love of mystery to visit the hotel, and take its famous ghost tour!
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