Ghosts of Eureka Springs' Crescent Hotel

Arkansas Hostelry Considered one of the Most Haunted in America

Nov 21, 2009 Jill Stefko

There are sightings, poltergeist activity, EVP, orbs and other ghostly incidents in the lobby, guest rooms, kitchen, dining room and on the grounds of the Crescent Hotel.

Architect Isaac L. Taylor designed the hotel known as the Queen of the Ozarks in 1886. When it began to lose money, it became the elite Crescent College and Conservatory for Young Women in 1908.

The school closed in 1924, then reopened as a junior college from 1930 to 1934. It was a summer hotel after this school closed. In 1937, new owner Norman Baker, whose ghost is a haunter, turned the building into a hospital and health resort. Although the man wasn’t a physician, he advertised a miracle cure for cancer.

Federal charges were filed against Baker for mail fraud resulting in his spending four years in prison. The hotel was closed until 1946 when investors restored it into a historical hotel.

Ghosts of the Crescent Hotel

Some of the specters have been photographed. In addition to Baker’s phantom, ghostsinclude:

Miss Theodora who cared for terminal people when the hotel was a cancer “hospital”
Weeping woman who carries her child’s blanket
Man who sighted in the lobby bar or at the foot of the stairway
Lady in the garden
Michael, an Irish stonemason, who died in a fall during the hotel’s construction, knocks on walls and turns lights and televisions on and off
Nurse wearing a white uniform
Handsome tall bearded man who knocks on rooms’ doors and asks people if they’re waiting for him
Woman who introduces herself as a cancer patient, then vanishes.
Teenaged boy who collapses and disappears on the floor.
Man in a waiter’s uniform carrying a tray of butter
Boy with thick glasses wearing knickers
Lady with a beautiful hat
Man with a slightly crooked smile
Hooded figure
Face of a man with a bowler-type hat

Crescent Hotel’s Poltergeist Activity

One Christmastide, the staff left a Christmas tree and presents at one end of the empty Crystal Dining Room and locked the door behind them. When they returned, the staff found the tree and presents had been moved to the other end of the room and chairs were in a semicircle facing the tree.

Blankets and sheets are pulled from beds when people try to sleep or are already in dreamland. Witnesses have seen objects move by themselves. Electrical and electronic equipment act bizarrely. People have felt something touch or push them.

Assorted Crescent Hotel’s Paranormal Phenomena

Cold spots and strange breezes have been felt. Orbs have been sighted and photographed. Mysterious sounds, including disembodied voices, have been heard. EVP, Electronic Voice Phenomena is when an unexplained a voice or voices are recorded on tape.

These recordings generally last for a few minutes or less. Usually, the voices are difficult to understand and a person has to listen to the tape several times to decipher the words. One guest who successfully recorded phantom voices heard the name, Theodora.

Articles Related to Haunted Crescent Hotel

People who enjoyed this article might like Haunted Historic Hotel Bethlehem, along with Haunted Lowe Hotel Point Pleasant and Haunted New Mexico St. James Hotel.

Source:

Haunted Places, Dennis William Hauck, (Penguin Books, 2002).

The copyright of the article Ghosts of Eureka Springs' Crescent Hotel in Paranormal is owned by Jill Stefko . Permission to republish Ghosts of Eureka Springs' Crescent Hotel in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Bedclothes Pulled off of Crescent Hotel Beds