Fire and Brick & Stone

Fire and Brick and Stone. Upper Spring. , The neighborhood above the current First Baptist Church burned in the Great Fire of 1883, the first of four Great Fires which destroyed most of the town's early wooden structures. New commercial buildings were built of more fire-resistant materials such as brick and limestone. This block, originally called Rice Avenue, is one of the most interesting downtown. Beautiful spring parks anchor both corners.

[Inset photo captions read] , [1.] The Wadsworth Building was the first structure to rise from the ashes after the second Great Fire in 1888. This multi-story building was a popular home furnishings and hardward store whose ghost signs still give hint to the wide variety of merchandise offered by various owners. This view also shows the foundations of the "new" U.S. Post Office, completed in 1918.

[2.] Originally the site of the Kentucky House, the Sharp's Continental Oil Filling Station was located here in 1928 to provide convenient service to the automobile tourist. It was enlarged and converted to law offices in 1964.

[3]. The Sweet Spring Hotel once stood here. It was built in 1887 and later became the Huntington Hospital. It burned in the 1940s and site was vacant until the current building was constructed to blend well into the corner in 1994.

The unique Palace Bath House sign is said to be the first neon sign west of the Mississippi River, designed by colorful local sign artist By Golly.

In the Neighborhood , Limestone: Sweet Spring is a good place to see the many ways this rock forms the basic fabric of Eureka Springs; natural bluffs, cut stone stacked walls, sidewalks, benches and buildings!

The Sweet-Harding Spring Reservation: Public land set aside in the 1890s, it is above the entire block to protect the springs. A rustic trail leads to Harding Spring on the next corner.

Upper Spring Street: A lovely flat walk with beautiful spring parks and interesting buildings built into the mountainsides.

First Baptist Penn Memorial Church: Built 1916 and named in honor of Major William Penn, an evangelist and minister in Eureka Springs.

Landmarks [Map and Key]

This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, a Preserve America grant. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior. Photographs courtesy of the Cornerstone Bank of Eureka Springs, Eureka Springs Historical Museum and the Eureka Springs Carnegie Public Library.