Most Haunted Place in America: Crescent Hotel

Built in 1886 atop the crest of West Mountain, the Crescent Hotel and Spa is widely considered to be one of the most haunted hotels in North America. The 78-room Crescent Hotel was designed by famed architect Isaac L. Taylor upon 27 majestic acres that overlooked the Victorian village of Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

The Crescent hotel was built during the time when the Ozarks became known as “healing waters”. Tourists came from far and wide in hopes of healing their ailments within the springs, so the hotel was built to be the most luxurious resort in the land. No expense was spared, installing new-found electricity for lighting, elevators and other amenities, for a total building cost of $294,000 – an incredibly excessive amount in those days.

Within a few years, the appeal of the “healing springs” dissolved as people realized such powers were false. The Crescent Hotel became a summer-time resort, opening its doors as a women’s college. When that failed to bring in enough revenue, the hotel closed completely for six years. Eventually, it was purchased by Norman Baker in 1937 and reopened as a “miracle cure” institution known as the Baker Hospital.

The cancer hospital and health resort claimed to offer miraculous healing without surgery or painful testing. As it turned out, Baker was a fraud who’d had no medical training and was convicted of practicing without a license in Iowa in 1936. His “miracle elixirs” finally got him arrested by the federal authorities in 1939.

The hotel closed for another 6 years and was reopened in 1946, once again as a luxurious resort. In 1967, a catastrophic fire overwhelmed the south wing’s 4th floor, and once again the hotel closed due to extensive damage.

From 1997 to 2002, the hotel was restored again with $5 million in restorations. Ever since it’s final re-opening, guests have reported that ghostly spirits roam the halls. From the Baker Hospital days, a white-clad nurse is said to walk the third floor halls pushing a gurney, then disappears when she reaches the end of the hallway. Apparently, this activity only occurs after 11pm, at which time the cadavers were moved to the third floor morgue. Others have reported the sound of squeaky wheels, such as a gurney would make.

The third floor of the haunted Crescent Hotel is also the laundry room. A former maintenance man once claimed all of the washers and dryers to inexplicably turn on simultaneously.

Several reports state that doctor Baker himself appears in the basement, and also at the foot of the first floor steps, clad in a white suit and purple shirt. Those who then saw pictures of Doctor Baker said the vision was an exact match.

The original switchboard was used for some time, but eventually replaced when continuous calls came from the empty basement. The ghostly apparition of “Theodora” has been reported numerous times to appear in room 419 by the cleaning staff, where she kindly introduces herself as a cancer patient, then disappears. A distinguished, Victorian dressed gentleman hangs out at the bar, as well as other similarly dressed apparitions seen in the Crystal Dining room. A ghostly waiter roams the halls with a tray of butter.

With all of the reported activity, the Crescent Hotel & Spa has become one of the most visited haunted hot-spots in North America. However, should you make the trip in hopes of sighting a ghost, be aware that the structure was built with mighty blocks of limestone. Limestone is known to put off high electro-magnetic fields, which create a sense of paranoia, nausea, dizziness and an overall eerie sensation – all feelings commonly associated with being around a ghost. Unless you actually see a ghost with your own eyes, don’t let a false sense of paranoia get to you.

Related posts:

1. The Haunted Baker Hotel
2. The Haunting of the St. James Hotel
3. Haunted Goldfield Hotel
4. The Haunted Mount Washington Hotel
5. The Haunts of the Alaskan Hotel