Haunted Places in Arkansas
Like other regions of the Ozarks, Northwest Arkansashas its share of ghost stories and legends of spooky apparitions that appear from time to time.
It's known that more than 2,500 soldiers on both sides of the battle lost their lives at Prairie Grove Battlefield in one day in 1862, and the ground ran red with blood. So it's not surprising that visitors to the park report hearing the sounds of battle--cannon fire, troops marching, cavalry horses snorting and stamping their feet--as they make their way along the marked tour path. Perhaps there are visual sightings as well.
Fayetteville has its paranormal visitors, too. It is said that at Tilly Willy Bridge on S. Wilson Hollow Rd. in south Fayetteville, a family died when their car plunged into the creek. A woman in white has been seen wandering the nearby field, and a ghost car is said to drive across the bridge from time to time. Park as close as possible to the bridge, turn off your lights and let your windows fog up...and see if the reported handprints appear on your windows.
At the Arkansas Air Museum, at 4290 S. School St., Fayetteville, visit the museum's library. That's where a male ghost sometimes hangs out. No word on who he was or what he's doing there, though. Many reports of other specters in the Air Museum make it one of the more continuously haunted places in Northwest Arkansas.
Even the University of Arkansas is not exempt from ghostly visitors. Carnall Hall, 465 N. Arkansas Ave, has reports of apparitions wafting through the air, unexplained footfalls in vacant rooms, and freshly-made beds displaying unexplained impressions in the covers.
And for sure hair-raising potential, consider this: A mountain southeast of Drake Field airport in Fayetteville is still known to some locals as Ghost Mountain because back in the 1930s a very drunk, angry man threw his crying infant down the well. His frantic wife jumped in to save the baby, and the husband cut the rope holding the bucket, and mother and child perished. Walk past that well under the full moon, and you can hear the mother and child wailing and screaming. You'll need to ask a local how to find the place.
Over in Rogers, a transparent Confederate solider patrols the shores of the War Eagle River on the grounds of the War Eagle Mill. Inside the mill, reports of poltergeists include stories of after-hours activity in the 3rd floor kitchen--chairs moving on their own, noises, and tea dispenser lids flying across the room when no one is there.
Most haunted in Eureka Springs is the 1886 Crescent Hotel, where guests and staff members often claim to see apparitions. These ghosts are now part of the legend of the hotel -- in fact, there's daily ghost tours offered. Ask about Michael, one of the more infamous ghosts.
The Crescent's sister hotel, the downtown 1905 Basin Park, also has a reputation as haunted; one of the investors involved in building the hotel is said to still roam the halls dressed in a brown suit and derby hat. Other sightings include an abandoned bride and ghostly dancers twirling in the Barefoot Ballroom.
Other legends: Ghosts of the original Indian inhabitants of the region are said to roam the land, unexplained orbs have been seen in local caves and in the woods, and some folks report feeling or seeing etheric beings around Magnetic Springs.
For more otherworldly pursuits, the Annual Ozark UFO Conference convenes every April at the Best Western Inn of the Ozarks. Presenters include former military personnel, aerospace engineers, researchers, journalists, those who have experienced alien abduction and a hypnotherapist who works with alien abduction victims. Believer or skeptic, it's a fascinating discussion. Click here for a close encounter with more information and dates.
