The History Behind This One Arkansas Hotel Is Bizarre But True
By J.B. VanDyke|Published June 10, 2016
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J.B. VanDyke
Author
J.B. Weisenfels has lived in rural Arkansas for three decades. She is a writer, a mom, and a graduate student. She is also an avid collector of tacky fish whatnots, slightly chipped teapots, and other old things. In her spare time she enjoys driving to the nearest creek to sit a while. If you were to visit her, she'd try to feed you cornbread.
As local travel experts, we know what travelers are looking for when it comes to finding the perfect accommodations for their next trip. To compile our lists, we scour the internet to find properties with excellent ratings and reviews, desirable amenities, nearby attractions, and that something special that makes a destination worthy of traveling for.
Set beside the city park that is its namesake, Basin Park Hotel dominates downtown Eureka Springs. In the fork of Spring and Center streets, Basin Park Hotel is one of the most interesting historic buildings in a town that can boast about how its entire city is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The hotel is built on the site of an earlier hotel, one built by a man named Captain Joseph Perry. When Perry moved to the Eureka Springs area, he was reportedly an "incurable invalid." After finding healing in the springs, Perry decided to move there permanently. He erected the Perry House, a four story luxury hotel, which was made out of wood. The Perry House opened in 1881.
Unfortunately, the Perry House burned in one of the many fires that plagued Eureka Springs in 1890. From the ashes rose the comparatively more fireproof Basin Park Hotel, which opened in 1905. Instead of wood, it was constructed out of local limestone and dolomite.
An extra fire precaution came in the form of iron catwalks that connect every floor to the neighboring mountainside, which makes the Basin Park Hotel the only hotel in the world where each floor is the ground floor.
During prohibition, the hotel became a place where people could engage in illicit activities like drinking and gambling. Al Capone’s sister reportedly lingered there for a month. This was shut down in 1955, after a police raid seized all the booze and slot machines. The owner at the time sold the property after the raid, as it was no longer as lucrative as it had been.
The Basin Park Hotel still hosts the annual Barefoot Ball, an event that has been around since 1948. In 1948, a couple won a trip to Eureka Springs from the show Truth or Consequences. They won the trip, but were required to stay barefoot for the entirety of their stay. The first Barefoot Ball happened that June, and it’s been an annual event ever since.
