Eureka Springs has two bath houses and a modern hospital. 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. We have one bank, four lawyers, three
doctors, one optometrist and one undertaker.
In 1948, Eureka Springs had its first Ozark Folk Festival, directed by
Robert Serviss. Mr. Serviss got the backing of a number of local
business men and formed the Folk Festival Association. Serviss directed
the festival again in 1949. During the next two years, the late Harry
Wilk, who was president of the Chamber of Commerce, and Ned Bailey,
secretary of the organization, put on the festival and extended it from
three days to a full week. In 1952, the Festival Association was
incorporated and Grover Roark elected president. I directed the
festivals in 1952, 1953 and 1954. In 1954 people from twenty-seven
states attended this event. The festival, held in mid-October, has
developed into an immense jamboree and attracts thousands of visitors.
XXXIV
UNUSUAL ENTERPRISES
One of the treasured thoroughfares of Old Eureka Springs was the foot
bridge which spanned the canyon at the rear of the stone building, now
the Sweet Spring Apartments. The south terminus of this unusual
structure was at the rear of Jim Black’s shoe shop. It was a short cut
to the business section on Spring Street in the vicinity of Sweet,
Harding and Crescent Springs. The original Sweet Spring was in the
hollow at the rear of the post office to the left of the bridge. This
spring was tapped higher up on the bluff when Spring Street was laid
out.
Another unusual structure was the “Bridge Studio” built by Sam A. Leath
and Steele Kennedy in 1931. The site of this covered bridge, built for
artists and writers, was at the tourist court owned by these two
men—Camp Leath, now Mount Air. It was built across a ravine at the rear
of the court and was a little more than 100 feet in length. Leath and
Kennedy were the sole builders of this structure and their methods stand
unique in the annals of engineering. The two ends of the bridge were
built alternately, section by section, coming together in the center.
After building one end, the opposite position was accurately located by
Kennedy with a small bore rifle. A board was held by Leath at the north
end of the bridge, indicating where the top deck at that point would be.
Kennedy placed the shot at the exact point desired. The trueness of the
shot was later proved with a level when the two approaches were closed
with the central span.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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