The hotel was designed by the famous architect Isaac L. Taylor and the place became a Mecca in the nineteenth century to travellers in search of Eureka Springs reported "healing waters" from the nearby hot springs. During its construction in 1885, an Irish Stonemason supposedly fell to his death in the area of Room 218. Which in June 2001 was where we decided to spend the weekend. At the time we had only heard it was haunted and thought it would make for a luxurious and adventuresome weekend. The events that transpired that weekend and what the photos showed on our return was enough to permanently drive our interest in the paranormal.

In 1908, the hotel was opened as the Crescent College and Conservatory for Young Women and served as an exclusive academy for wealthy ladies. During the summer it still catered to the tourist crowd, but the money it made was not enough to keep the aging monolith in business. The school closed in 1924 and then reopened briefly from 1930 to 1934 as a junior college.
In 1937 The Hotel was purchased by Norman G. Baker

Baker had made his fortune by inventing the Calliope in 1914 forming the Tangley Calliope Company of Muscatine, Iowa. The Calliope/Calliaphone was an organ played with air pressure rather than steam frequently seen in Circus setups. Supposedly he got the idea while working for a circus. He built KTNT (Know the Naked Truth) radio in Iowa in 1925.

He started a hospital in Muscatine, Iowa but was arrested over his "cure" for cancer. He was convicted of practicing medicine without a license and all of his medicines were condemned by the American Medical Association. In 1933 along with another infamous Doctor, J.R. Brinkley who had some bizarre cures, he went to Texas where he started a radio station, XENT in Nuevo Laredo. There still dressed in his trademark lavender suit and purple shirt he offered talks on the mind, the digestion, and the benefits of driving on Tangley tires (also connected somehow to the Tangley Calliope) fitting in perfectly along famous Radio Show hosts like Pappy O’Daniel or Dr. J. R Brinkley with his “Goat Gland” cures. By 1934 he had amassed a fortune enviable by even today’s standards. He considered himself something of a medical expert, although he had no training. He claimed to have discovered a number of "cures" for various ailments but implied that organized medicine conspired to keep his "miracle medicines" and “treatments” from the public.

In 1937, Norman Baker converted the hotel into a hospital and "health resort". He purchased the Crescent Hotel and remodelled it in “colors so bright that it made your eyes hurt”. He decorated his own penthouse in shades of purple and was reported to wear a purple shirt with his suits. He also added a few other touches to his private rooms, hanging machine guns on the walls and installing secret escape passages (possible source of rumour: passage down to the base of the hill purportedly used in transporting bodies so as not to alarm patients) that would save him should investigators i.e. the AMA or Law Enforcement stop in for a unfriendly visit. Baker had moved his cancer patients to Arkansas and advertised the health resort by saying that no X-rays or operations were performed to save his patients lives. The "cures" mostly consisted of drinking the natural spring water of the area though there were rumours that ground watermelon seed in a solution of spring water was used directly into cancerous sites. Purportedly, he also had patients write three letters upon arrival asking relatives for spending money in case they became too ill to ask, then if a patient got to that point he’d send the letters and pocket the money. Further, another rumour was he would request burial funds from relatives, promising to take care of the funeral then pocket the money again. A very large number of bodies made it to the funeral homes and records show quite a few operated in the area at the time but there are those that say some bodies only made it as far as the incinerator out back. Eventually Federal charges were filed against him for mail fraud. He was sentenced to four years in Leavenworth in 1940 and ironically died of cancer in 1958 in Florida.

The ghost of a nurse dressed in white has been reported on the third floor. A gentleman in Victorian clothing haunts the lobby. Other apparitions have been sighted in Rooms 202 and one named Theodora in 424. There was also talk of a suicide or murder that occurred while it was a Young Women's Conservatory with a young woman either being pushed or jumping off the balcony. Excerpt from: Center for Research Libraries U_S_ College Catalogs Collection - C.htm
LIST OF INSTITUTIONS REPRESENTED IN THE COLLECTION
Crescent College (Eureka Springs, AR) Crescent College and Conservatory (Eureka Springs, AR) Crescent College and Conservatory for Young Women (Eureka Springs, AR) Creston Community College (Creston, IA) Creston Junior College (Creston, IA)