The Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, dubbed The Most Haunted Hotel in America, offers a unique experience even for seasoned ghost hunters. The dark and twisted past at this location affected columnist Brocarde more than most places, feeling heavy and almost too much to handle.
A Dark History Behind the Luxury
The Crescent Hotel sits on a hilltop in Eureka Springs, a town built on the belief that its water holds healing qualities. In the late 19th century, Eureka Springs transformed from Ozark wilderness to a bustling holiday destination, with roughly 10,000 people descending on it within months. The hotel was founded in 1886 as a luxury resort for the wealthy.
The hotel later became the Crescent College and Conservatory for Young Women before being transformed into a hospital in 1937 by Norman Baker, a salesman and self-proclaimed healer who promoted himself as having discovered a cure for cancer. He established the Baker Cancer Curable Hospital at the site and promoted a concoction known as Formula No. 5.
The Fake Doctor's Reign
Baker was no doctor at all. He convinced people in America that he had a cure for cancer, and terminally ill patients would spend their life savings to check into his hospital. His Formula No. 5 was made from ingredients including ground watermelon seeds, corn silk, clover, water, glycerin, peppermint and traces of carbolic acid. As a radio DJ and local celebrity, he used his radio show to promote his concoction.
He claimed this magic potion would cure cancer and injected his patients with it, sometimes up to seven times a day. The hospital operated from 1937 until 1939, and hundreds of patients died at his hands. He often sent patients home to die, claiming their deaths were because they stopped “treatment”. Families were largely unaware, as he’d force patients to write home expressing how great they felt. Patients who questioned their treatment plan were sent to a makeshift “psychiatric ward” or “pain ward”.
Exploring the Haunted Suites
During her stay, Brocarde checked into the Governor’s Suite, a two-bedroom suite on the ground floor that was Norman Baker’s former office and living quarters. She discovered a secret staircase associated with Baker hidden inside the suite, installed so he could flee in the dead of night.
Venturing into the basement in the early hours of the morning, she entered the former body locker, once part of the kitchen when the building was a girls’ school and later associated with the storage of bodies. The basement also houses a collection of medical specimens found during ground excavations in the 1990s, including bottles containing body tissue and tumour samples marinated in alcohol.
A Ghostly Cat and Other Spirits
Brocarde also encountered one of the Crescent Hotel’s most famous residents: Morris, a ginger cat who lived at the hotel for 21 years and became affectionately known as its General Manager. Although Morris died in 1994, his spirit is said to continue roaming the hotel, with visitors reporting the sensation of a cat brushing against their legs.
The ghostly cat provided some welcome comic relief, lightening the energy of the hotel. Apparently, he still acts as the General Manager and patrols the corridors.
