The 1905 Basin Park Hotel is one of Arkansas’ real haunted hotels. The hotel has long been the source of eerie tales, unusual happenings, and many ghostly encounters. According to town history, by 1880, an elegant, four-story hotel known as the Perry House was built on the site of the healing springs which gives Eureka its name. Eureka Springs grew rapidly because of the spring water. The “healing waters” attracted the rich and those looking to get rich. Gambling, drinking, and prostitution were popular activities available at the seventeen saloons in operation. Many notorious outlaws were drawn to the boomtown including Frank and Jessie James, the Younger brothers, Belle Starr, and members of the Dalton Gang.
Like most other buildings in Eureka Springs at that time, the Perry House Hotel was built completely out of wood. In 1890, it fell victim to the last of the four fires that completely leveled the town of Eureka Springs. William Duncan built the Basin Park Hotel from local limestone in 1905, on the site of the old Perry House. Duncan died in 1907, but it’s believed that he continues to roam the halls of the Basin Park Hotel in a brown suit and derby.
Besides William Duncan, there are legends about visitors who checked into the hotel, but who also never really left. Patrons in rooms 307, 308, and 310 repeatedly report sightings and encounters with a young translucent woman with blue eyes and golden-blonde hair; a little girl with braided hair in a yellow dress; and a man in a cowboy hat and white canvas duster, with a six-shooter strapped to his hip. The cowboy is said to walk through the walls of the rooms on the third floor asking startled guests if they have seen his horse. Stories involving floating orbs, moving objects, and late-night unfounded shouts of “Fire!” are frequently reported to hotel management.
Many believe the cowboy to be John Chisum, a wealthy cattle baron in the American West during the mid-to-late 19th century. It is reported Chisum came to the Basin Park Hotel to recover from surgery but died in 1884 on Christmas Eve. In our fictitious telling of the story, we imagined an alternative explanation to the identity of the cowboy. Based on the history of the Ozarks during the late 1800s and the lawlessness of the area, we believe it is possible the cowboy could have been a man on the wrong side of the law. As with Chisum, our cowboy seeks a cure from the healing waters of Eureka Springs.
Ghosts of Perry House was inspired by the mysterious and unexplainable events we experienced during our recent stay at the 1905 Basin Park Hotel. In writing our story, we tried to stay true to the history of the area and the historic hotel. We focused on facts and true incidents that have occurred. While in several instances the actual names and locations of people and businesses have been used, the facts surrounding the actual people and occurrences have been embellished. We personally look forward to revisiting the town of “healing waters” and the historic hotel to further investigate the spirits of the paranormal kind.
The book is now available on Amazon.
