The Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, is rumored to be one of the most haunted places in the world. This hotel has a long history, and is beautiful to look at, yet many who visit claim to experience some strange and unsettling things. The stories have grown so large that at times it seems like people almost expect to experience something when they visit.
The Crescent Hotel was originally built in 1886, and is now considered one of the most historic hotels in the county. Starting in 1908 it also served as a women’s college during 8-9 months of the year; this lasted until 1932. From 1937-1940 the hotel operated as a cancer hospital. It sat empty until 1947 when it was turned back into a hotel.
Today visitors can stay overnight, or book a much longer trip. Travelers can also choose to have their wedding in one of the over eight different settings they offer. Of course a large number of travelers coming to this Arkansas hotel come for the ghosts.
One room in the hotel is called Theadora’s Room by some, though it is actually Room 419. Those who have visited claim to capture odd sounds and voices on tape recordings left running overnight. Room 218 is another place many guests believe is haunted, and one of the more popular stories told about the Crescent. Theadora was believed to be a woman who worked there when the hotel was a hospital. This ghost often moves jewelry, and touches guests in her room.
The ghost in this room is slightly violent, enough so that he has tried to yank people out of bed in the middle of the night. Employees have heard people moving around in the room when the room is empty. Guests have seen the lights turn on and off, the windows open, and heard people walking around the room. When they rise, everything stops.
In the lobby area employees and guests have seen a man in an old fashioned suit. Others have seen an old man who seems to disappear into the walls. Then there is the ghost of a carpenter who was killed when the hotel was first built. The spirit of this young man is often spotted in the basement area, and appears fairly frequently. There are also cold spots experienced in the room.
There are also ghosts in the Crescent Hotel that date back to its time as other things. According to http://www.crescent-hotel.com/ghosts/troytaylor.htm, “One guest claimed that she saw a nurse pushing a” bed down the hall. Other guests have witnessed a young college student on the stairs. Some claim this student killed herself by throwing herself off the hotel balcony.
Certain guests have also been woken in the middle of the night to someone knocking on their door. By the time they get to the door though, there is no one there. Is this mischief making guests, or something a little more supernatural? Then there are stories of guests who receive odd phone calls repeatedly in the middle of the night, with no one on the other end.
Guests of the hotel love to take lots of pictures and video to show their friends back home, and some of this film has shown some strange things. Video taken in the ballroom area sometimes shows shadows that look like a couple dancing the night away. Others who have taken photographs have found strange orbs and streaks across the image. Many people attribute this to dust on the lens, but some images seem to be unexplainable.
Stories of ghosts at the Crescent Hotel have existed for years now, and it doesn’t appear as if they are about to stop. The hotel even offers ghost hunts for guests to search for their own paranormal experiences. With all the stories of ghosts and hauntings, it seems as though there might just be something here at the Crescent Hotel.
Sources:
http://www.americasmosthauntedhotel.com/stories.htm
http://www.crescent-hotel.com/
