Location: The Historical Crecent Hotel built in 1886
Date: November 16th-19th, 2000
Time: Investigations were conducted at various times
from the 16-19th but all began after 9pm.
Investigators: Andy & Christy Selfridge
Equipment used: Sony Mavica FD-73 digital camera,
Sony TRV- 37CCD 8mm camcorder with nightshot, Tri-Field
Natural EM meter. OLympus Microcassette
recorder, Realistic cassette recorder with
external microphone & an external slave.

This is one part of the Crescent's lobby where the ghost of the mysterious man is found walking around.

This smaller building on the right, known as the annex, was where Baker kept his dying cancer patients. Between the buildings Baker had an 8ft. limestone wall built to shut out the patient's wails of agony & cries for help.

This part of the Crescent Hotel gardens is where the ghost of a young lady in white is said to be seen walking around.

Andy & I had decided to take a few days off for vacation and where better to spend it at than one of our favorite locations; The Crescent Hotel. We had previously visited the Crescent Hotel back in July of 2000 where we first learned about its haunted past and were able to return this time in November 2000, determined to do an investigation of the place. We took the ghost tour that was offered around 7pm and we took our Tri-field EMF meter us and our Digital Sony Camera with us. We tagged along at the back of the tour so we could collect data. We had a comment made by an individual on the tour, "Make room for the ghostbusters!" By no means are we the "ghostbusters," but we found humor in the man's comment. The tour guides told us that the most interactions with the ghosts happen on the tour so we were hoping to catch something exciting. We caught on film a few good shots of orbs and even had several good spikes on the EMF Meter of readings up to 10 milliguass. During the tour in the basement of the Hotel which used to be a morgue, my right leg was lightly touched. There are a couple of ghosts that stay in the basement area and they have been known to touch people and even remove jewlery! One teenage boy on the tour had a pocket radio and claimed that it had no batteries in it but it started playing on its own.

The next night, Nov. 17th, Andy conducted an investigation of the outside of the hotel. Unfortunately he was unable to catch anything on film. That night we set up our Sony camcorder while we slept, hoping to catch something on video. Unfortunately we were unable to catch anything once again. We did have a little experience in the room 201 where we were staying. We entered the room and had just sat down when we felt like something was present in the room with us. It felt like electricity passing through our bodies and it let us know it was there saying hello before it quickly disappeared almost as fast as it had come.

We did have an opportunity to visit to local cemetary of Eureka Springs where several of the cancer patients from Norman Baker's Cancer Hospital are buried. Since the cemetary is closed at dusk, we weren't able to do an investigation at night after 9pm, but we did enjoy our stroll through the beautiful cemetary.

Our conclusion of the Crescent Hotel is that it is very active, but the spirits there inter-react upon choice. We believe that since the hotel stays so full of guests that it is hard to conduct a true investigation, but there are times when individuals get lucky and do capture exciting evidence on film/tape. We plan on going back to the Crescent Hotel hopefully in the spring on 2002 and we will conduct another investigation and post any new evidence that we get on the site. Please check back often!

This is the front entrance to the Crescent Hotel.

THE CRESCENT HOTEL'S HISTORY

The Historical Crescent Hotel has a long history that started on May 1886 with its grand opening. It was a year- round resort until 1908-1934 when it became a boarding school to supplement lagging winter hotel business. The school operated from September to May with a student body of 88. This arrangement remained in effect until 1934 when results of the depression ended both the school & the hotel. From then until 1937, the Crescent closed its doors and little is known other than that the hotel was leased usually for one season at a time by various people.

In July 1937, an eccentric and independantly wealthy would-be doctor by the name of Norman Baker bought the hotel which signaled the beginning of what would be its darkest history. Baker remodeled the hotel and turned it into what he called a "Cancer Hospital." He claimed to be a doctor although he held no license to practice medicine. Baker advertised that he could cure cancer without operation, radium & x-rays. His patients came from all over expecting healing but what they got was more than they bargained for. Instead of a cure they were unknowingly being cheated out of their money by mail fraud and many spent their last days in the "cancer hospital" uncured. People believe that many of the cancer patients who died horribly in the hospital are still there today. Norman Baker was stopped though, as on January 11, 1940, lasting 14 days until January 26th, Baker's case was brought before the US District Court finding him guilty of 7 counts of mail fraud. He was fined $4000 and required to serve 4 years in a federal penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Ironically, a few years after Baker got out of prision he died of Cancer!

From 1940-1946 the Crescent Hotel remained closed and empty except for the spirits who still remained there. In the spring of 1946 the hotel was purchased by 4 business men who renovated the old hotel back to its orginal state and reopened her doors on July 4, 1946. Since 1946, the Crescent Hotel has changed ownership several times, but still remains open today.

Since May 20, 1886, more than 10 million visitors have visited the historical hotel and many have also witnessed encounters with its ghostly residents. The Crescent Hotel is famous for its ghosts some of which are Michael, the ghost of room 218, Theodora of room 419, 2 nurses who are seen walking up and down the halls of the 2nd & 3rd floors, one pushing a covered gurney the other a wheelchair, then a man who is seen wondering around in the lobby and a lady in white who is seen walking around in the gardens.

Historical information provided by "The Grand Old Lady of the Ozarks" written by Dr. D.R. Wollerly