Eureka, California

“ On that fateful first of September, 1879, the stage left Graniteville, as usual, at six o'clock in the morning. Graniteville, in Eureka Township, Nevada County, is the Eureka South of early days. The stage still makes the daily trip over the mountains; but the glamour and romance of the gold fields have long since departed. On the morning mentioned traffic was light, for people did not travel the twenty-eight miles through heat and dust to Nevada City for pleasure. Too often it was a case of running the gauntlet from the gold fields to the railroad terminus and safety. ”

“ As usual in isolated California towns of any size, the shops and mercantile establishments generally seemed entirely to outclass the population figures, which in case of Eureka are not claimed to exceed fifteen thousand. Like our hotel, the interior of the business buildings was usually211 much more attractive than the exterior, and it was apparent that the merchants of the town were prepared to take care of all reasonable needs of the inhabitants as well as of transitory visitors. ”

“ Gen. Vallejo, a native of California, and now a member of the legislature, offers a site lying upon the Straits of Carquinas and Napa 436river, where he proposes to lay out the capital to be called Eureka, or such other name as the legislature may suggest. He proposes—
1st. That said permanent seat of government may be laid out in such form as five Commissioners may direct, three of whom shall be appointed by the legislature, and two by himself. ”

“ In one camp in the redwood forests of Humboldt, not far from the present town of Eureka, there were some six hundred men at work, and business was lively, in every sense of the word. There were two "stores" at which articles for miners' and lumbermen's use—heavy clothing, groceries, provisions, and notably whisky and cards—were dispensed at round prices. Every store in those days was a saloon, and a gambling-house as well ”

“ In the heart of these Oregon mountains lie table-lands, which in summer are covered with the richest vegetation. They are, for the most part, cultivated by emigrants from the interior of the United States. The gathering together of these and other emigrant labourers, renders Eureka still more important as a place of business, than either Weaverville or Shasta City. It is a stopping-place, where travellers pause to lay in stores of provision, and to make such purchases as are necessary for the pursuit of either mining or agriculture. ”

“ For more than a hundred miles the narrow road twists through these giant trees, coming at times to commanding headlands from which there are endless vistas of shining sea. We21 visited Eureka, the wonder city of the North, long shut in behind ranges of almost impenetrable hills and dependent on the sea alone—though now it has a railroad and lives in hopes of the coming of the new state highway. We saw Shasta of the eternal snows and Lassen’s smoke-shrouded peak. We followed the rugged coastline of Mendocino County with its stern headlands overlooking leagues of glorious ocean. ”

“ Places of interest to tourists include: Onyx Cave, Inspiration Point, The Castle, Blue Spring, Quigley’s Castle, Pivot Rock and Natural Bridge, the Ozark Museum, Hatchet Hall, Birdhaven, the Bracken Doll Museum, the Old Rock House, the springs (63 of them) , the Basin Circle Park, Harmon Playgrounds, St. Elizabeth Church, the views from East Mountain and the top of the Crescent Hotel, the Narrows, Beaver, White River, Kings River, Hog Scald, Penitentiary Hollow and Revilo Ranch.
Eureka Springs has two bath houses and a modern hospital. ”

“ The town has many magnificent buildings and substantial enterprises, including the Sanitarium Company, which has grounds near Eureka Springs and is doing much in the way of improvements. The beautiful scenery in every direction fills the visitor with astonishment not to be described with the pen. ”

“ It was built in 1886 following the completion of the Crescent Hotel. The same stone masons built both buildings.
The school system of the city is one of the best in the South. A modern building was erected in 1951 and it is the last word in convenience. Both the elementary and high schools have “A” ratings.
Eureka Springs has a full quota of civic, fraternal and patriotic organizations such as: the Masons, Elks, I.O.O.F., Rotarians, Lions, American Legion, Chamber of Commerce, Tourist Council, Woman’s Club, Music Club, Ozark Artists and Writers Guild, home demonstration clubs, and others. ”

“ One of the first blows to the local economy of the town was the removal of the railroad shops in 1911. This stopped an important pay roll which the town needed to balance its economy. No other industries have been developed to take its place.
For a number of years Eureka Springs was the outstanding watering place, not only in Arkansas, but throughout the entire midwest, but after the turn of the century other resorts became prominent and offered stiff competition. ”

“ HARDING SPRING AND ROCK, EUREKA SPRINGS, ARKANSAS.—The ruggedness and beauty of the scenery in and around Eureka Springs, and their pleasant influence upon the minds of invalids, causing them to dwell upon other things rather than their ailments, no doubt have something to do with the marvelous cures that have been wrought here. Nature, aided by the embellishments of art, has made the place an exceedingly attractive resort, which grows in favor with each passing year. ”

“ Hog Scald, ten miles south of Eureka Springs is an undiscovered country, so far as tourists are concerned, but for riches of tradition and excellence of scenic beauty it cannot be surpassed in the Ozark highlands. It is a land of clear, gushing springs, laughing brooks and tumbling waterfalls; water everywhere, spilling over rocky ledges and twisting happily through granite-lined canyons. It is a land of massive oak, stately pine and verdant cedar, of purple grapes that cling to broad leafed vines and red berries that tinge the cheeks of the hills with romantic blushes. ”

“ We ate our noon beans, returned to work, skated back{210} to the house by half-past two to get in firewood for the night, and at half-past three or four the dark winter’s day was over, and we had fifteen hours to live through before getting the next day’s meagre allowance of light, for Eureka Valley is a narrow cleft in the mountains not over a quarter of a mile in width, and lined on either side by ridges 1,500 to 2,000 feet in height. ”

“ A crazy quilt is made up of pieces arranged without pattern or order. Eureka Springs is like that. It is an architectural labyrinth unique among cities. The recently built annex of the Penn Memorial Baptist Church has a home for the minister on the third floor. You may enter at the street-level door on Mountain Street, walk through the rooms—a distance of about forty feet—and look down upon Owen Street, thirty feet below. ”

“ Life in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, was almost unbelievably crude in the early days of 1882 and 1883, three or four years after the ‘healing springs’ were discovered by white men, and the place became a mushroom city of five or six thousand people almost overnight. No water works, no sewer system, no paved streets, no street cars and, of course, no automobiles.
“My first memories of the town that was destined to become the leading health resort of the Ozarks are of gangs of men drilling and blasting on the side of the mountain to change Spring street in the vicinity of Sweet and Harding springs. ”

“ It opened as a hotel with Dwight Nichols as manager in June, 1946. It is now one of the town’s greatest assets.
Eureka Springs had a mild boom at the close of the war. Home-seekers poured in, bought homes, entered into business or went into retirement. A number of motels and other business enterprises were built and a community began a new epoch as a resort. The population increased from a depression low of about 1,700 to around 3,000 in 1954, counting the suburban areas. ”

“ Our facilities for housing and entertaining tourists will have to be enlarged. The population of Eureka Springs should gradually increase during the next few years. With the most scenic location in the Ozarks, with flowing springs such as other towns do not have, with nearness to two lakes with the best of fishing and water sports, it is not extravagant to visualize the population of Eureka Springs as doubled within a few years. ”

“ Earl was one of the boys who carried a portable outfit and gave a shine for a nickel. Mrs. Annie House, the oldest newspaper woman in Arkansas, was a small girl when she came to Eureka Springs in 1879. She has been a resident of the town during the entire seventy-five years and spent forty years working on local newspapers. Charley Stehm, artist in wood and stone, came to the town as a boy in the early eighties and lived here until his death, Sept. 22, 1954.
Transportation was a problem in the early days. Pierce City, Missouri, eighty-four miles to the north, was the nearest railroad point. ”

“ Eureka Springs is the only Ozark town having an Ozark magazine with national spread. It lays the magic carpet for exit from the confusion of the city to the land of Ozark enchantment.
The assimilation of the newcomers into the social and economic life of the town has been successful. The ratio of newcomers to natives is now about fifty-fifty. It is almost impossible to tell an old-timer from a newcomer. The melting pot is doing its work.
* * * * * * * *
Eureka Springs is one of the two cities in Arkansas having a commission form of government. The other city is Fort Smith. ”

“ It has two printing plants, one of which publishes the Eureka Springs Times-Echo and prints Rayburn’s Ozark Guide. The volunteer fire department has a new truck and modern equipment, and the city police force is adequate for local needs. The town has modern motels and cafes, most of which remain open through the year. Outstanding antique and gift shops are located here. Practically all lines of mercantile business and services are represented at Eureka Springs. ”

“ THE COW TRIAL ON LEATHERWOOD CREEK
During the half century before Eureka Springs was settled and named in 1879, settlers trekked in and built homes in the valleys and along the streams of the western district of Carroll County. ”

“ It is one of the most beautiful little churches in America and is visited by thousands of tourists each year.
Perhaps the most unusual enterprise in Eureka Springs is the lay-out of the town itself. Was it built haphazardly or with definite plan? Powell Clayton and other city fathers probably knew, but they long ago passed to their rewards. They were inspired men and had great faith in the future of the fabulous City of Springs. ”

“ Retirement people flocked to Eureka Springs to buy homes; others came to go into business. By 1950, Eureka Springs had been given the nickname, “Little Chicago,” because of the large number of people from that area.
The town of Eureka Springs owes Marge Lyon a vast debt of gratitude. Her lucid lines have lured thousands of visitors to the hills, many of whom came to stay and are now happily located far from the city’s noise and confusion. They have helped balance the town’s economy and have added to the culture and social life of the community. ”

“ Claude A. Fuller. He has always had the interests of his hometown at heart and his leadership is outstanding. Born in Springhill, Illinois January 20, 1876, he came westward with his parents when a young lad and, at the age of fifteen, settled at Eureka Springs. His first job was with pick and shovel at Sanitarium Lake, now Lake Lucerne. When the street car line was constructed from the Auditorium (now Harmon Playgrounds) to the Basin Spring, he was employed as waterboy. ”

“ Geographically, Eureka Springs is an “up and down” town. There are no level spots in the down-town area large enough for a baseball diamond or a circus tent. This problem has been solved, however, by bulldozing off the top of a mountain at the edge of town and building a stadium. We can now play the great American game and hope for the visitation of a circus. ”

“ Eureka is a Greek expression meaning "I have found it," and the word is frequently applied to mines and other enterprises where there are high hopes of success. There is a bar in Snake River just below the mouth of the Imnaha, and this is known as Eureka Bar. In 1945 it was reported that mining activity in the locality appeared to have ceased many years before. Eustis, Wallowa County. This post office was named for Harry R. Eustis, a nearby homesteader. It was situated in section 15, township 3 north, range 41 east. ”

“ The unofficial reports of the population of Eureka Springs in the 1880’s and 1890’s range from 5,000 to 15,000. Old-timers say that the population peak was reached about the year 1888. The official census records at the Bureau of Census in Washington do not agree with these unofficial reports, being considerably less. It is possible that the unofficial count took in people who lived outside the city limits, or who were not permanent residents. ”

“ I breathe its atmosphere—I enjoy its presence—I share in its delights. Our bodies may be set asunder by a plank; but you may pile mountains upon mountains, and worlds upon worlds between us, and yet our souls will remain one and indivisible.”
“How much your voice and gestures remind me of Eureka!” remarked the merchant’s son, regarding with increasing interest the romantic enthusiasm of his companion. ”

“ In the Ozarks, newly married couples are usually “shivareed” by their friends. They are serenaded with bells and shotguns and other racket making devices and if the groom refuses to “treat” with candy and cigars, he is given an unconventional bath in the river. In some communities the bride and groom are driven around town in a horse-drawn vehicle or an old jalopy.
At Eureka Springs, it became a practice to have the newlyweds slide down the perpendicular rock near the spring. It developed into a tradition and even today honeymooners, others too, try the daring slide to prove their courage. ”