LITTLE ROCK, AR — Perhaps the most popular haunted Arkansas destination is the legendary Crescent Hotel, constructed in 1886. The long history of the hotel is represented through the ghosts that still inhabit its halls and walls. Not only do tourists learn about secret underground passages, they also receive a special treat of visiting the basement room that was once the morgue. It still contains an old autopsy table. That room was part of perhaps the strangest chapter in the Crescent’s history from 1937-39, when Norman Baker of Iowa bought the hotel and converted it into his third cancer facility, naming it the Baker Hospital of Eureka Springs. Read more…
I grew up calling him Uncle Norman; Dad told me many stories about Uncle Norman, for whom he worked for awhile. Dad idolized Norman, and I didn’t garner other attitudes about him till a few decades ago, slowly, though, as I began to see him from a different perspective. I may have had an Uncle Norman ghost experience a few years ago, when I stayed in the hotel. At that time I was still sympathetic to him, and because of my dad’s stories, still have just a touch of sympathy for the old b******.
I have begun a blog this year, and will start entering “Uncle Norman stories” in a couple of weeks, about mid April.
Are you telling us you’re related to Norman Baker? What was your ghost experience when you stayed in the hotel?