National Water Center, Eureka Springs, Arkansas
         

National Water Center, Eureka Springs, AR

Updated: April 2014 Contact: Contact: NWC

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Eureka!
by C. F. Ellis, M.D.

During the peak of the late nineteenth century tourist boom in Eureka Springs, C.F. Ellis, M.D., published this medical account of the spring waters. It originally appeared in the Kansas City Medical Index in 1898.

Firm as the eternal mountains upon which nestles this "City of Magic Waters" is the fact that since the discovery of these famous springs, some fifteen years ago, hundreds of cures, seeming little less than miracles, have been wrought here with the water and climate. Though handicapped with the prevalent misconception of "worthlessness" that attaches to Arkansas or its products, Eureka Springs is, by the force of its many merits, quietly spreading its fame over the continent. Its praises are not being sung by parties having corner lots for sale, nor is it being boomed by speculators anxious to unload their stock; but a steadily growing tide of visitors is each year tending this way; these returning to their homes, tell their friends of their restoration. In this quiet, unobtrusive way,

Eureka Springs has achieved a legitimate and imperishable fame.

This resort is situated in the northwest corner of the State of Arkansas, on the crest of the Ozark Mountains, at an altitude of 2,000 feet above the sea. Surrounded on all sides for many miles by virgin pine forests, the air is impregnated with the balsamic properties of such a region. Within the corporate limits of the city more than forty springs send forth their sparkling waters to refresh and cure mankind. The springs gush forth from high up the mountain sides, and not from the valleys.

The waters of a number of these springs have been analyzed by analytical chemists of the highest reputation. The purity of these waters, their wonderful solvent properties, the large quantities in which they can be drunk, and the rapidity with which they are eliminated, lead many careful observers to believe they perform a large part of their work by filtering through all the tissues of the body, literally washing out all impurities. Be that as it may, the indisputable fact of hundreds of cures each year of seemingly almost hopeless cases attests the merits of the water and climate. Few resorts that have attained merited celebrity possess as many of the natural elements necessary to the ideal health resort as Eureka Springs. Ample supply of water, absolutely free from excess of mineral properties, the altitude, the pure exhilarating atmosphere, the mild and equable climate, the many days of sunshine, the perfect immunity from malaria, and its magnificent and fascinating scenery, combine to make it the most popular all-the-year-round health resort in America.