Basin Park Hotel Press

Eureka Springs' 1905 Basin Park Hotel Celebrates 100 Years of Hospitality

Three-day Centennial Celebration To Feature Reunion Barefoot Ball, VIP Event

EUREKA SPRINGS, AR - The historic 1905 Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, will celebrate 100 years of history, service and hospitality July 1 - July 3 during a three-day "Centennial Celebration & Reunion" led by former United States Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt of Harrison. The Basin Park Hotel was an integral part of the early years of tourism in the state, drawing thousands of visitors seeking renewed health and leisure.

Located in the hub of the downtown historic district of Eureka Springs, the hotel is adjacent to the cold water Basin Spring, which came to be the heart of the new health resort community 100 years ago. With its signature white limestone and pink dolomite rock walls built into the side of a mountain, all eight levels of the hotel are at "ground level," bringing the hotel international recognition by being named to Ripley's Believe It Or Not list.

A birthday festivity will kickoff the celebration weekend on Friday, July 1, at 1 p.m. for hotel employees, tourism VIPs and local citizens. Former employees of the Basin Park Hotel, as well as local citizens that were part of the hotel's history will reminisce during a roundtable discussion immediately following the event at 2 p.m.

At 5 p.m. an invitation-only event, including state notables, tourism VIPs and past guests and employees of the hotel, will feature a Eureka Springs memorabilia show with live entertainment and keynote address by Hammerschmidt. A painting commissioned by local artist Larry Mansker, will be presented for auction. All proceeds will benefit the Eureka Springs Historical Museum.

The current-day Rooftop Billiards Room, located on the sixth floor of the hotel, will also be renamed the Lucky 7, as it was well known by visitors in the 1940s.

Saturday will kickoff with an antique car parade led by former Basin Park Hotel limo driver Floyd Pendergraff, who will chauffeur Grand Marshall Hammerschmidt. A Reunion Barefoot Ball will follow that evening.

The Barefoot Ball, initiated in 1948, was inspired by Ralph Edwards' radio show Truth or Consequences . A newlywed couple from Santa Ana, California won a two-week vacation in Eureka Springs at the Basin Park Hotel from the show. The "consequence" was that the couple had to arrive and remain barefoot for the duration of the trip. To celebrate the couple's accomplishment, Joe Parkhill, owner and manager of the hotel at the time, held the first ball on June 25, 1948.

Arkansas' own Greasy Greens will provide live entertainment at the already sold-out July 2 event. Original Barefoot Ball Queen and Truth or Consequences winner Marge Pruitt, who now lives in Irvine, California, will be in attendance.

A "Charming Farewell" event will conclude centennial activities on Sunday morning.

"This celebration is more than a trip down memory lane, "Basin Park Hotel General Manager Jack Moyer said. "The Basin Park Hotel is a gem in the foundation of Arkansas' tourism, and a cornerstone of Eureka Springs' history. This once-in-a-lifetime celebration will be a weekend for everyone to enjoy."

For more information about the 1905 Basin Park Hotel or scheduled centennial events, visit www.basinpark.com or contact the hotel concierge at 800-643-4972, ext. 350.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has named Eureka Springs one of America's Distinctive Destinations for being one of the best-preserved and most unique communities in the United States. An authentic 19th century Victorian resort located in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, the town is encircled by two beautiful lakes and two scenic rivers and is filled with old-world charm and European flavor.

A Family Affair: The 100 Year Anniversary of the Basin Park Hotel

Prominent Eureka Springs Family Intertwined with Landmark Hotel's History

EUREKA SPRINGS, AR - Next month will mark the 100-year anniversary of the historic 1905 Basin Park Hotel, a tourism milestone in the heart of downtown Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Known for its unique construction and rich and colorful history, the story of the Basin Park Hotel cannot be told without mentioning the legacy of one of the city's and nation's most notable leaders.

It is not known if there was one defining moment when Claude A. Fuller decided he would become a mover and shaker in the city of Eureka Springs, but much of the former United States congressman's life, and the lives of his descendants, would be wrapped up in one of the city's major landmarks - the Basin Park Hotel.

It was during his second term as Mayor that Fuller, at age 50, purchased (for the first time) the Basin Park Hotel in 1926. During this time, he also owned the historic 1886 Crescent Hotel.

"I can never think of the Basin Park Hotel without thinking of my late grandfather, Claude A. Fuller," said John Fuller Cross, Chairman of the Bank of Eureka Springs and grandson of Fuller. "He had an illustrious career in this town, state and nation."

One hundred years ago this year, a curious eight-story construction - literally against the side of a mountain in the heart of Eureka Springs was completed. The Basin Park Hotel opened to much fanfare; with the oddity that each of the eight floors was on ground level, "fireproof," the result of its mountainside construction.

The Fuller/Cross Family

At the time, Fuller was working as a lawyer and completing a stint in the Arkansas House of Representatives.

To understand Fuller's rise to prominence locally and nationally, you must understand that tireless work and a sense of adventure was behind everything he did. At the age of nine his family moved from Illinois to a small farm outside Eureka Springs. Fuller hit the ground running, whether out of necessity or simply the drive to work, plucking chickens for another of Eureka Springs' hotels of grandeur, the 1886 Crescent Hotel, driving a mule for the Eureka Springs Street Railway and hopping freight trains back and forth to and from Chicago. Fuller also worked as a dishwasher in the red light district of The Windy City during the 1893 World's Fair.

Deciding that law held the keys to his future, he apprenticed for two years in a Eureka Springs law firm and passed the bar in 1898 at age 22. No law degree was required at the time.

Fuller wasted no time making a name for himself. He immediately began practicing law and embarked on a concurrent career in public service by serving a two-year term as City Clerk of Eureka Springs. After that he spent two years (1903-1905) in the Arkansas House of Representatives, followed by the first of two terms as Mayor of Eureka Springs from 1906-1910, and again 1920-1928. In between he served as prosecutor for the Fourth Arkansas Judicial District, 1910-1914. He also found time to serve as president of the Eureka Springs School Board, 1916-1928.

Under Fuller's terms as mayor, the courthouse and City Auditorium were built. A mere three years later, Fuller was elected to the U.S. Congress where he would serve for 10 years. He sold both hotels in 1931, but this would not be his last venture into the hotel business.

During the 1940s, while Fuller was practicing law and was engaged in banking and agricultural businesses, the Basin Park Hotel slipped back into the family, but at a distance. Roy Parkhill, a cousin of Fuller's, purchased the hotel for his nephew.

Fuller was nearing 80 when he purchased for the second time the "gem of the Ozarks" - as the Basin Park Hotel was called - from his distant relation.

John Fuller Cross, Fuller's grandson, was in his 20s in 1960 and asked his grandfather for the chance to operate the hotel's restaurant.

Cross was involved with the Basin Park Hotel and other business interests when Fuller died in 1968, bequeathing the hotel to his daughters, Ruth (Cross's mother) and her sister, Dorothy Mathews. Cross's mother sold her interest to him in 1971 and he operated the Basin Park until 1975 when he and his aunt sold it.

Over the years Cross followed a path well worn by his grandfather. He entered banking, becoming Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Bank of Eureka Springs, encouraging restoration, tourism and promotion of the city. Cross is keenly aware of the city's rich history and the role his family continues to play. In fact, he has referred to the bank as a "working museum." The bank was built specifically to bring back the Victorian look of Eureka Springs. It is filled with period furniture, artifacts, including a few precious pieces that belonged to Fuller.

A champion of historic preservation, Cross points to the bank as an example of leading by example.

Cross not only knows Eureka Springs inside and out, he believes passionately in the uniqueness and singularity of it as a treasured piece of American history. And at the center of this American treasure, your will find the Basin Park Hotel.

"It is the heart and soul of downtown Eureka Springs," says Cross.

Risky Business: Eureka Springs Hotel Remembers

Days of Gambling, Gangsters

EUREKA SPRINGS, AR - The 1905 Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas celebrates its 100-year anniversary on July 1. Located in the heart of this unique city, the historic hotel with its signature white limestone and pink dolomite rock walls is built into the side of the mountain on the north side of Basin Circle Park. The beautiful limestone exterior was quarried from the nearby town of Beaver.

The small adjacent park is the center of activity for a lively tourist town and hosts live music most every week. This urban retreat is threaded by paths that lead to romantic vistas of the city and the Ozark Mountains where couples can restore their spirit in quiet contemplation. But it wasn't always this way.

During the 40s and 50s the Basin Park Hotel was a mecca for those who loved to party and gamble. Because the hotel is built into the side of a hill every floor at the rear of the eight-story building is a ground floor. It is perfect for a quick escape if there is a fire but in those days, it was said to be perfect for a quick escape from the law.

The Establishment of The Barefoot Ball

Local boosters brag about the reputation of the restored hotel as it has become a staple of civic pride. It was here that the famous Barefoot Ball was born. Atop the Basin Park Hotel, in the ballroom known as "The Roof Garden," dances with live bands were a regular happening in the 40s. In 1948, radio star Ralph Edwards, host of the popular show Truth or Consequences , awarded a two-week stay at the Basin Park Hotel to a newlywed couple with the stipulation that they had to be barefoot from the time they left California until they returned.

The Gambling Years

The couple was brought to the Bridal Suite of the hotel by its owner, Joe Parkhill who later that week decided to have a ballroom dance in their honor. Noting that they were walking around town all week barefoot, Parkhill demanded that anyone who came to the ball to honor them must also be barefoot. The Barefoot Ball was born. It has been held every year since.

Barefoot Balls aside, illegal gambling is what attracted most visitors to the hotel in those days. War weary soldiers with girlfriends or wives flocked to this hide-a-way to relax and have fun. A wheeler dealer that would rival P.T. Barnum, Parkhill had a vision for the Basin Park Hotel as a playground for the rich and famous with a disregard for the laws of a small rural state like Arkansas. His hotel was in a remote location in a small town where local law enforcement was encouraged to help him promote "tourism."

The Gambling & Gangsters

Parkhill's new and illegal commercialism was brazen. The first floor of the hotel was equipped with slot machines. The popular dances continued but were upstaged by evenings of drinking and gambling.

The current Rooftop Billiards Room on the sixth floor was equipped with slot machines as well and they could quickly be hidden behind fake doors marked "storage" The room had two long bars: one serving liquor by the drink and the other filled with slot machines - both illegal at the time.

Parkhill's "tourist attraction
boomed. Soon, word of this unique venue spread to Chicago and many of that city's most notorious natives began to visit the hotel on a frequent basis. A former hotel manager recalled that it had been rumored that Al Capone's sister was rumored to have stayed at the Basin Park Hotel for over a month.

There was unquestioned enthusiasm for breaking the law because that's what these visitors did for a living. Parkhill registered many of the Basin Park Hotel guests at no charge.

Life was good and so was business. But life was about to change.

The Bust

In 1955 a new Carroll County Sheriff Erwin "The Weasel" Deweese decided it was time to rid the town of its criminal element and he decided to raid the Barefoot Ball to send the message.

Parkhill was tipped off by the Arkansas State Police who often frequented the hotel themselves. The Barefoot Ball was always the biggest night of the year and it went on as planned but without the typical alcohol or gambling.

Time passed that night and there was no raid. Guests were complaining. Where was the booze? Why no slots tonight? Finally, Parkhill acquiesced. The slot machines on the sixth floor were uncovered and the bars were opened.

At 11:20 p.m., The Weasel and the Arkansas State Police raided the Basin Park Hotel and seized all the slot machines and liquor. Parkhill, John Doe and Jack Rabbit were arrested and taken off to jail.

The next day newspapers captured photographs of state police smashing the slots.

The End of the Joe Parkhill Era

Pressure to operate the hotel without the booze and slots proved too much for Parkhill. The crowds were smaller and the Chicago friends quit coming. Not long after The Barefoot Ball raid, Joe Parkhill sold the Basin Park Hotel to Eureka Springs native and retired United States Congressman Claude A. Fuller.

Parkhill lived in the Eureka Springs area until his death in the mid-80s. As the Basin Park Hotel celebrates 100 years of operation, the gambling era is just part of a colorful history. Now this fully renovated hotel with modern amenities stands proudly as a symbol of Eureka Springs' past and an icon for the future as a second century begins.

Turn-of-the-Century Hotel Lends Historic Charm to Modern-Era Tourism

Eureka Springs' 1905 Basin Park Hotel Celebrates 100 Years of Hospitality

EUREKA SPRINGS, AR - Nearly 100 years ago, a unique hotel in the small Victorian village of Eureka Springs, Arkansas helped launch what would become the early days of tourism for the state. Opening its doors on July 1, 1905, the historic Basin Park Hotel entertained guests from across the country, attracting everyone from Chicago businessmen to visitors seeking renewed health.

Now, with a century of service and memories within its white limestone and pink dolomite walls, the 1905 Basin Park Hotel continues to serve as a unique tourism destination in the center of all of the city's action.

Built to meet the housing demand generated by thousands of visitors who flocked to the cold-water spring that came to be the heart of this new health resort community, the original hotel had 100 guestrooms, a cage elevator, electric lights and a telephone in each room. A significant characteristic often touted were its floor bridges built into the side of the adjoining Basin Spring on every floor, making all eight levels of the hotel a "ground level." The feature would eventually bring international recognition when the hotel was named to Ripley's Believe It Or Not list.

Basin Park Hotel Owned By National Leader

The story of the Basin Park Hotel could also not be told without mentioning the legacy of one of city's and nation's most notable leaders, Claude A. Fuller.

The Modern Era

One of the city's most prominent movers and shakers and former United States Congressman, Fuller purchased (for the first time) the Basin Park Hotel in 1926. During this time, he also owned the historic 1886 Crescent Hotel.

A mere three years later Fuller was elected to the U.S. Congress where he would serve for 10 years. He sold both hotels in 1931, however the hotel would return to the family in 1944 where it would remain until 1972.

The Joe Parkhill Era

In 1944, Roy Parkhill, a prominent oilman from Tulsa, was convinced to invest in and purchase the hotel for his young nephew, Joe Parkhill.

Joe, a smooth talking salesman, knew the art of entertaining clients. During the war years, regular tours from Chicago arrived by train in Monett, Missouri where Joe and his wife Inez would drive a bus and meet travelers for an all inclusive, inexpensive Ozark vacation at the Basin Park Hotel. Daily activities such as arranged hayrides, horseback riding, dancing and fishing were often included with the visit.

Monett also housed military base Camp Mead, and soldiers on leave would regularly travel to the hotel by bus for Saturday evening dances.

In 1948, Parkhill began the annual tradition of The Barefoot Ball, inspired by Ralph Edwards' radio show Truth of Consequences . A newlywed couple from Santa Ana, California were contestants that won a two-week vacation in Eureka Springs at the Basin Park Hotel. The "consequence" was that the couple had to arrive and remain barefoot for the duration of the trip. To celebrate the couple's accomplishment, Parkhill held the first ball on June 25, 1948.

As the years passed, Parkhill's traditional activities of hayrides and dances quickly turned into evenings of gambling and liquor. A strategy he hoped would be sufficient enough to draw more business while entertaining the well-to-do of Chicago.

The hotel's first floor and current-day Billiards Room on the sixth floor were equipped with slot machines, fake doors and long bars to serve up hard liquor by the drink. Although illegal at the time, Parkhill's strategy worked, and business at the Basin

Park Hotel took off. His "friends" from Chicago became increasingly frequent guests of the hotel. Al Capone's sister was a registered guest for over one month.

In 1955, things changed for Parkhill, as the Carroll County sheriff and state police raided the Basin Park Hotel during a Barefoot Ball, seizing all slots and liquor. Shortly after, the pressure to operate the hotel had grown to be too great, and Roy Parkhill sold his interest in the hotel back to Eureka Springs notable and retired U.S. Representative Claude "C.A." Fuller, who owned the hotel previously.

The Modern Era

A long way from the "good old days" of hayrides and illegal poker games, the 1905 Basin Park Hotel has become a landmark for the city of Eureka Springs, and still remains the hub of city activity.

Marty & Elise Roenigk purchased the Basin Park Hotel in February 1997, and pledged to restore the hotel to its original grandeur.  That pledge has become reality. Their multi-million dollar restoration and refurbishing of the hotel was recognized recently when they were presented the coveted Heritage Award at the Arkansas Governor's Conference.

Jack Moyer, former executive assistant manager with Adams Mark Hotels, serves as general manager for both the 1905 Basin Park Hotel and the 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa.

The hotel of today offers whirlpool, bridal, spa, suite and family accommodations, and is a regular host of more than 100 weddings and receptions annually. Guests can unwind at the Serenity Day Spa, sun at the pool, have fun at the Lucky 7 Rooftop Billiards Parlor, enjoy excursions with Arkansas Outdoor Adventures, and have front-door access to the city's more than 100 unique downtown shops. Its downtown location is enhanced by complimentary parking and shuttle service. Starbucks coffee is also available at the Eureka Coffee Company.

The hotel also serves as a unique location for corporate retreats, seminars and hosts the University of Arkansas' Resort Management Program each summer.

The Basin Park Hotel will celebrate its 100 th year beginning July 1 during "Centennial Celebration & Reunion." The three-day commemoration will include an invitation-only event on Friday evening with a Eureka Springs memorabilia show and live entertainment under the watchful eye of "Celebration Celebrant Esquire" and former United States Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt.

Events planned for Saturday, July 2 include a parade in historic downtown Eureka Springs, and Reunion Barefoot Ball, featuring the music by Arkansas' own Greasy Greens . A "Charming Farewell" event will conclude centennial activities on Sunday morning.