EUREKA HISTORY

Eureka Springs is one of the largest Historic Districts in Arkansas. The National Trust for Historic Preservation named it one of twelve Distinctive Destinations in America.

The city is passionate about preserving this treasure, and with good reason. The town was founded and named on July 4, 1879. Hundreds of Victorian homes have remained. Today, tiny cottages and elaborate mansions line the streets. Some are tucked into the mountains along with every other architectural style from mid-century classing (including a Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian home) to contemporary and treehouses. There are 360 streets that wind around the town which intersect only once at a right angle. Sixty eight miles of 100+ year-old handstacked limestone walls line the town. There are no traffic lights. Along the entire downtown of Eureka Springs there are 14 properties listed on the National Register of Historic places and 27 listed in Carroll County.

Eureka Springs has historically been called “The Little Switzerland of America” and “The Stairstep Town” because of its European look, mountainous terrain and the winding, up-and-down paths of its streets and walkways. The Historic Loop has an alpine character with extensive streetscape dotted with springs, grottos and trails. Eureka Springs is also known as “The City that Water Built” because of the restorative and healing properties of its springs, which were once sacred to Native American tribes and attracted thousands of health-seekers.

Eureka Springs is also home to one of only four libraries in Arkansas in which Andrew Carnigie funded. Completed in 1912, this historical landmark continues to serve the residents and visitors of Carroll County today.

By late 1880’s, the estimated population of Eureka Springs reached nearly 5,000 people and in 1881 was declared not only a “City of the First Class,” but also the second largest city in Arkansas. There are countless historical focal points in town, including the 1929 Municipal Auditorium, opened by John Phillips Souza, the Eureka Underground (a civil war hospital), famed Abolitionist Carry Nation’s Home, houses of ill repute, Bath Houses, 5 historic hotels pre-dating 1906, and of course...the unique underground tunnel system built beneath the city.