The Eureka Springs Railroad opened in February 1883, and as the first trains arrived at the original station house, a finely crafted wooden structure, passengers were met by horse-drawn carriages and hacks that quickly carried them to the best hotels. The railroad, an 18-mile line from Seligman, Missouri, connected to the Frisco railroad system and helped assure the success of the resort by making it easily reachable from major population centers nationwide. By 1900 the railroad had been extended across Arkansas, and by then, under the name Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad, the company ran eight to ten trains daily to Eureka Springs. In 1913 the original station house was removed and replaced with a fine limestone structure that still stands. Adjacent to the depot property stand the ruins of the Eureka Springs Electric Light and Street Railway Company, which received a franchise in May 1891 to construct a power plant and provide electricity for private consumers and public street lighting. The company began the street railway that year, and the system was operated by electricity in 1899. The massive limestone structure housed the power plant until it was destroyed by fire about 1930. An ice house supplied the resort with home-delivered ice for more than half a century until closing about 1960.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Photo: Unknown

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Eureka Springs, Arkansas · USA