Eureka Springs entertains 150,000 or more tourists annually and it has need of numerous hotels, motels and courts to provide adequate housing for these guests. During its seventy-five years as a resort, it has had more than 100 establishments of this class. One of the first of these hotels was the St. Charles on North Main Street, opened by Powell Clayton in 1882. It was first called the Clayton House. The Grand Central was opened in 1883. Two years (1884-1886) were spent in building the Crescent which opened May 1, 1886. The Palace opened in May, 1901. The Wadsworth was dedicated February 14, 1902. The name was changed to The Allred a few years later. In 1949 it was purchased by Cecil Maberry and renamed The Springs. In August, 1954, it was purchased by Gale Reeves and many improvements made. The Basin Park Hotel was opened for guests May 5, 1905 and had its “grand opening” July 1. The site was formerly occupied by the Perry House, which was destroyed in the big fire of 1888. The building that housed the Lansing Hotel (Carthage House) still stand on Center Street. The Landaker is another of the older hotels now used as an apartment house. The Southern, just south of the Basin Circle, was destroyed by fire in 1935. The Thach, popular with Texans, was destroyed by fire in 1932. The Belden at Lion Spring was once a popular hotel. Other hotels and boarding houses that once served the public, are: The Antlers, Barretts, Baker House, Crim House, Calef, Calohan, Corrs, Callender, Chautauqua, Crescent Cottage, Dieu, Davey, Drains, Dell Mont, Glenwood, Gable, Guffey’s, The Gables, Holman, Hancock, Harvey House, Hodges, Illinois, Josephine, Kimberlings, Lindell, Lawrence, Main, Mountain Home, Maplewood, Magnetic, New National, New St. Louis, Phoenix, Piedmont, Pickards, Pence, Reynolds, Sweet Spring, Sweet Springs Home, Sweet Spring Flats, Silver, Swankey, Sawyer, St. Louis, Tulsa, Tweely’s, Valley, Vestal Cottage, White Elephant, Wards, Williams Cottage, Washington and Waverly. Eureka Springs visitors now have choice of hotels (European or American plan) or motels and motor courts. A big percentage of our tourists patronize the motels and courts of which there are twenty or more in Eureka Springs and vicinity. They range all the way from comfortable modern cabins to deluxe motels and resorts which are the last word in comfort and convenience. Most of them are conveniently located on U. S. Highway 62. XXXI “BACKWOODS BARON”