Location: |
Basin Spring Park, Eureka Springs.
Meeting place for the tours at the flagpole in Basin Spring Park at the main road. (36.402059, -93.737559) |
Open: |
All year Mon-Thu 16, Fri, Sat 16,18, Sun 16. [2024] |
Fee: |
Adults USD 19.50, Children (0-12) free, Seniors (65+) USD 17.50. [2024] |
Classification: |
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Light: |
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Dimension: | |
Guided tours: | L=1,600 m, D=90 min. |
Photography: | allowed |
Accessibility: | no |
Bibliography: | |
Address: |
Basin Spring Park, 3 Spring Street, Eureka Springs, AR 72632, Tel: +1-844-537-8687.
E-mail: |
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info. |
1896 | Bill Doolin, member of the Dalton gang, arrested at the Basin Spring Bath House. |
2006 | some locals plan to open the underground. |
2007 | Mayor of Eureka Springs investigating Underground Eureka as part of a tourism initiative. |
04-JUL-2009 | opened to the public. |
The underground of Eureka Springs is a collection of cellars and abandoned spaces underground. Known to the locals from local lore, they were opened to the public lately. However, the local lore is right about its existence, not about its origin. The urban legend tells the spaces are a result of the elevation of Main Street around 1890, to prevent flooding along Leatherwood Creek. Before the elevation, the frequent flooding created mud deposits on the road, which was then called Mud Street. Actually, there has never been an elevation, which is now known as a result of an architectural study carried out by a five-person team in 2008.
A central part of the tour is the old Basin Spring Bath House. It was destroyed by a fire in 1888 and rebuilt in 1889, but the old limestone facade with a door and two large windows facing Main Street was preserved underground. Actually, as the legend of the elevation is not true, this is not the facade of the bath house, as the original bathhouse was made entirely of wood. It is probably the remains of another building which was recycled as foundations of the new bath house. However, the storefront facade below street level remains a mystery. The basement of the old bathhouse serves as an underground history center for the tour.
The tour includes about a dozen stops, most of them are rather small. The underground is interesting but not as spacious as the underground at Atlanta or Seattle. The tour is named Downtown-N-Underground, the tour is offered by the Main Street Eureka Spring nationally accredited 501c3 nonprofit. They also created a new tour named Arts Desire, about public street art and local architecture, which is above ground.