Eureka Springs has two bath houses and a modern hospital. It has two printing plants, one of which publishes the Eureka Springs Times-Echo and prints Rayburn’s Ozark Guide. The volunteer fire department has a new truck and modern equipment, and the city police force is adequate for local needs. The town has modern motels and cafes, most of which remain open through the year. Outstanding antique and gift shops are located here. Practically all lines of mercantile business and services are represented at Eureka Springs. We have one bank, four lawyers, three doctors, one optometrist and one undertaker.
In 1948, Eureka Springs had its first Ozark Folk Festival, directed by Robert Serviss. Mr. Serviss got the backing of a number of local business men and formed the Folk Festival Association. Serviss directed the festival again in 1949. During the next two years, the late Harry Wilk, who was president of the Chamber of Commerce, and Ned Bailey, secretary of the organization, put on the festival and extended it from three days to a full week. In 1952, the Festival Association was incorporated and Grover Roark elected president. I directed the festivals in 1952, 1953 and 1954. In 1954 people from twenty-seven states attended this event. The festival, held in mid-October, has developed into an immense jamboree and attracts thousands of visitors.
One of the treasured thoroughfares of Old Eureka Springs was the foot bridge which spanned the canyon at the rear of the stone building, now the Sweet Spring Apartments. The south terminus of this unusual structure was at the rear of Jim Black’s shoe shop. It was a short cut to the business section on Spring Street in the vicinity of Sweet, Harding and Crescent Springs. The original Sweet Spring was in the hollow at the rear of the post office to the left of the bridge. This spring was tapped higher up on the bluff when Spring Street was laid out.
Another unusual structure was the “Bridge Studio” built by Sam A. Leath and Steele Kennedy in 1931. The site of this covered bridge, built for artists and writers, was at the tourist court owned by these two men—Camp Leath, now Mount Air. It was built across a ravine at the rear of the court and was a little more than 100 feet in length. Leath and Kennedy were the sole builders of this structure and their methods stand unique in the annals of engineering. The two ends of the bridge were built alternately, section by section, coming together in the center. After building one end, the opposite position was accurately located by Kennedy with a small bore rifle. A board was held by Leath at the north end of the bridge, indicating where the top deck at that point would be. Kennedy placed the shot at the exact point desired. The trueness of the shot was later proved with a level when the two approaches were closed with the central span.