Main Street (page 2)
Painted in 1979, this grand depiction of the eras in Eureka Springs history is a symbol of the rebirth of the town. Designed by famous muralist and local artist, Louis Freund, it was painted by him and other members of the Eureka Springs Guild of Artists and Craftspeople. The mural was restored to its original vivid colors in 2007 by local artists.
This has always been an anchor in the community. It was established in 1879 by the son of Alvah Jackson, the man credited with spreading word on the healing powers of the springs. It was operated as a bathhouse for many decades and for a time as the Eureka Water Shipping Company. The original wooden building was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1888 and replaced with a limestone/brick building in 1889. When this was seriously damaged by another fire in 1986, a local businessman restored it. When automobiles came to town, the lots to the north housed the Border Motor Company -- selling and repairing cars and even pumping gas for many decades.
Now a stairway (but still a street!) connecting Main to Spring, this was once a major dividing street, still visible in the photos of the Border Motor Company. The adjacent building has the distinction of having five addresses. The current restaurant on Main Street has served many uses such as undertakers and automotive repair.
In early days, this was a lively part of town. The Grand Central served as a stage stop with groceries and notions sold on the ground floor and lodging above. The original wooden hotel spanned Leatherwood Creek. In 1886 this block to the south offered a shooting gallery, bowling alley, saloons, cobbler, stores selling meat, general merchandise, hardware and a barber shop.The original wooden building burned in 1892 and was replaced with this brick one which changed names through the years. By 1923, it was just the Grand Central Hotel with the Walker Brothers selling dry goods and notions next door. Both buildings were renovated in the 1980s. The deep ravine which then made up the rest of the block was covered with a large platform and used for events.
The large structure on the northern edge of this block may be the oldest commercial building in Eureka Springs. After a series of fires swept through the town, new commercial buildings had to be made of stone or brick. On the 1886 map this anchors a block of businesses: two grocery stores, a meat market, general merchandise store, and a livery stable. The block continued to house a similar mix of businesses until the 1980s, including the “oldest grocery store in town,” Harp’s Grocery, which the elder Bergdorf established in 1885. This is now being renovated into Main Stage, a creative community center. The south corner of this block housed Messersmith’s Grocery and Produce with a barber shop next door.
On the west side of the street, the Landaker Hotel was built by 1892. It burned in the 1980s, though the fine stonework still stands. The brick building at 50 N. Main served as a hardware store and saddle shop for many years and a furniture store in the 1950s. The traditional storefront was restored in 2007. Across the street this was an area of mixed buildings with Leatherwood Creek running through part of it. There were the usual feed stores mixed with groceries, secondhand stores, restaurants, lunchrooms, dentist, meat markets and vacant land.
The Gadd Home has stood there since the 1890s, but the nearby businesses have changed. In 1892 the Red Front Wagon Yard stretched almost to what is now The Eurekan Studio. In the years before the 1920s there was: second hand store, carpenter shop, cobbler, feed & hay store, wagon shed and the Eureka Springs Machine Shop. Across the street, Sonny’s Pizzeria was a grocery with a home behind for most of this time. The adjacent spring was deeded to the city in 1900.
Just north of this intersection, one of the town’s most influential citizens, Clayton Powell, built his first residence/lodging with beautiful landscaped grounds in 1882. Former governor of Arkansas and founder of the Eureka Springs Improvement Company, his vision and influence changed Eureka Springs from a rough camp into a modern resort spa. The Clayton House bordered Iron and Sulphur Springs.in the area which is now The Main Street Inn. By 1892 this hotel was gone and the site was edged by feed stores and wagon yards where the Arts Colony is now located. A large spring-fed water tank nearby was important to this fire-prone community. In 1897, the M.L. Burkhart monument works was located at 184 North Main where a gallery is now located in the original Burkhart home.
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