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Risky Business: Eureka Springs Hotel Remembers

Days of Gambling, Gangsters

EUREKA SPRINGS, AR - The 1905 Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas celebrates its 100-year anniversary on July 1. Located in the heart of this unique city, the historic hotel with its signature white limestone and pink dolomite rock walls is built into the side of the mountain on the north side of Basin Circle Park. The beautiful limestone exterior was quarried from the nearby town of Beaver.

The small adjacent park is the center of activity for a lively tourist town and hosts live music most every week. This urban retreat is threaded by paths that lead to romantic vistas of the city and the Ozark Mountains where couples can restore their spirit in quiet contemplation. But it wasn't always this way.

During the 40s and 50s the Basin Park Hotel was a mecca for those who loved to party and gamble. Because the hotel is built into the side of a hill every floor at the rear of the eight-story building is a ground floor. It is perfect for a quick escape if there is a fire but in those days, it was said to be perfect for a quick escape from the law.

The Establishment of The Barefoot Ball

Local boosters brag about the reputation of the restored hotel as it has become a staple of civic pride. It was here that the famous Barefoot Ball was born. Atop the Basin Park Hotel, in the ballroom known as "The Roof Garden," dances with live bands were a regular happening in the 40s. In 1948, radio star Ralph Edwards, host of the popular show Truth or Consequences , awarded a two-week stay at the Basin Park Hotel to a newlywed couple with the stipulation that they had to be barefoot from the time they left California until they returned.

The Gambling Years

The couple was brought to the Bridal Suite of the hotel by its owner, Joe Parkhill who later that week decided to have a ballroom dance in their honor. Noting that they were walking around town all week barefoot, Parkhill demanded that anyone who came to the ball to honor them must also be barefoot. The Barefoot Ball was born. It has been held every year since.

Barefoot Balls aside, illegal gambling is what attracted most visitors to the hotel in those days. War weary soldiers with girlfriends or wives flocked to this hide-a-way to relax and have fun. A wheeler dealer that would rival P.T. Barnum, Parkhill had a vision for the Basin Park Hotel as a playground for the rich and famous with a disregard for the laws of a small rural state like Arkansas. His hotel was in a remote location in a small town where local law enforcement was encouraged to help him promote "tourism."

The Gambling & Gangsters

Parkhill's new and illegal commercialism was brazen. The first floor of the hotel was equipped with slot machines. The popular dances continued but were upstaged by evenings of drinking and gambling.

The current Rooftop Billiards Room on the sixth floor was equipped with slot machines as well and they could quickly be hidden behind fake doors marked "storage" The room had two long bars: one serving liquor by the drink and the other filled with slot machines - both illegal at the time.

Parkhill's "tourist attraction
boomed. Soon, word of this unique venue spread to Chicago and many of that city's most notorious natives began to visit the hotel on a frequent basis. A former hotel manager recalled that it had been rumored that Al Capone's sister was rumored to have stayed at the Basin Park Hotel for over a month.

There was unquestioned enthusiasm for breaking the law because that's what these visitors did for a living. Parkhill registered many of the Basin Park Hotel guests at no charge.

Life was good and so was business. But life was about to change.

The Bust

In 1955 a new Carroll County Sheriff Erwin "The Weasel" Deweese decided it was time to rid the town of its criminal element and he decided to raid the Barefoot Ball to send the message.

Parkhill was tipped off by the Arkansas State Police who often frequented the hotel themselves. The Barefoot Ball was always the biggest night of the year and it went on as planned but without the typical alcohol or gambling.

Time passed that night and there was no raid. Guests were complaining. Where was the booze? Why no slots tonight? Finally, Parkhill acquiesced. The slot machines on the sixth floor were uncovered and the bars were opened.

At 11:20 p.m., The Weasel and the Arkansas State Police raided the Basin Park Hotel and seized all the slot machines and liquor. Parkhill, John Doe and Jack Rabbit were arrested and taken off to jail.

The next day newspapers captured photographs of state police smashing the slots.

The End of the Joe Parkhill Era

Pressure to operate the hotel without the booze and slots proved too much for Parkhill. The crowds were smaller and the Chicago friends quit coming. Not long after The Barefoot Ball raid, Joe Parkhill sold the Basin Park Hotel to Eureka Springs native and retired United States Congressman Claude A. Fuller.

Parkhill lived in the Eureka Springs area until his death in the mid-80s. As the Basin Park Hotel celebrates 100 years of operation, the gambling era is just part of a colorful history. Now this fully renovated hotel with modern amenities stands proudly as a symbol of Eureka Springs' past and an icon for the future as a second century begins.

Note to editors: Additional information, stories, and photos are available for use. Please contact Andrea Smalec at 501-604-6148 for special media requests.