There are expressions in the English language that confound me. "Bearing Witness" is one of them. "Speaking truth to power" is another. Sometime in the middle of the pandemic I had this momentary panic that what if I didn't make it through and I never got to bear witness to more of the atrocities that have happened in the US (it had become a sort of mini-obsession of mine years ago)? Then the folks who have tried to cover up or deny our ugly history will prevail. I promised myself that once the country opened up enough, I knew just where I wanted to go.
Oklahoma. Not because of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical either. The ugly history of this place predates even the forming of this US state. Ever since I learned of the Indian Removal Act sometime in early adulthood (and NOT in HighSchool or College) I had been upset. I hate hidden ugly history. When teaching, I would create these adult literacy units of study that posed questions like, "can the United States be accused of practicing genocide for the crimes against the Indigenous folk of this country? We had the freedom to dig deep into these taboo topics back then in adult literacy.
Also back in my adult education days a very inquisitive young black man who really liked history would bring me tough topic questions about lynchings and riots perpetuated against black folk. That's where Tulsa entered the consciousness.
I had been holding these ugly places and spaces in our country's history in my minds' eye for a long time. I often would wonder how people in Oklahoma could carry on with the magnitude of social injustices carried out in their state. Is coexistence even possible? Or is it more like parallel existence or begrudging acceptance? I'm going to go find out.
SO off we went. We traversed a lot of Oklahoma and saw many sites. But...
I start with Tulsa because the anniversary year of the horror experienced here became very well publicized in this centennial year, and has made national news. I wanted to go not only to acknowledge the shameful past, but also check in on how things have changed.
The first change that I noted was a subtle shift of wording to describe the past. What little I knew about the history of "the event" always used the words "race riot" (another phrase I struggle to understand). Now, when NPR broadcasts a story about the black Tulsa event, they use the term "Tulsa's race massacre."
This spring the wires were abuzz about the Tulsa massacre and all the current efforts to address the past, acknowledge the wrongdoings, and even begin to dialogue on how to make things right. And most of all, many folks worked hard to get education out there for all to learn and grow from. A woke country is what we got! I wanted to be in on the "wokedness."
I read two books on this infamous, yet publicly hidden, historical event. Again, the learning wasn't until adulthood and the event was described as a "race riot." It has only been in recent times that the paradigm shift has changed the event from riot to massacre. A BIG difference in historical perspective here. A retelling or reclaiming the true history of this event has been 100 years in the making. I wondered who and how the narrative was now being told.
I find that it is often very hard to read about historical events without a contextual background to ground the information in. So that is why I like to visit. Some places feel old and unchanged, other places feel so changed it is hard to peel off the layers of time and conceptualize the history. Especially if you hadn't lived any part of it.
First realization is how big Tulsa is. I tend to think of most cities in the midwest as being these small places with hitching posts with a cowboyish feel (and trust me we saw several of these small towns on the trip).
Tulsa's population is about 400,000. One hundred years ago it was about 72,000- large by many standards. It was a place that had become many things: a depository for displaced beings (Indigenous tribes into "Indian Territory"), as well as Oil-driven settlers (white folks), and formerly enslaved (***new learning here=Many of the civilized tribes that came to call Oklahoma home came with enslaved black people) black people. Talk about a complex picture. The contours of history are hard to paint.
Between 1865 and 1920, African-Americans created more than 50 all-black towns and settlements throughout Indian Territory. The Land Run of 1889 brought even more African American settlers to the unassigned lands that now make up the state of Oklahoma. Another picture that is hard to conjure up. The land rush, sanctioned by the federal government, let white folks be at the front, and black at the back and only claim land not already taken by their white counterparts. Some industrious, hardy folk all around set about creating what all thought was "theirs for the taking." I wonder what those people who lined up in 1889 thought of the Indian situation at the time? Did they even care of their history? Did they foresee any difficulties coexisting or signs of trouble ahead?
For trouble came. Trouble is still around.
Many videos and books now exist on "Black Tulsa." When I tried to find a book a few years back, I had to go to the nearest city (Springfield MA) and the circulation desk had to go in the basement and pull the book I sought out of the archives b/c it hadn't circulated in years.
There is a man in the video (85 years old) who says, "I don't choose to be uncomfortable, reality makes me uncomfortable." He is talking about living in the world today as a black person, not 100 years ago. I find this heart wrenching news on the state of race relations today. I makes me not only uncomfortable, but really sad.
Segregation, urban renewal, and gentrification has changed the landscape, but I think it hasn't ended the history of poor race relations and trauma that came from those 18 hours of horror. This feeling is hard to capture as a tourist- as a voyeur on a painful past that isn't your own. What I felt while there was a strange undercurrent feeling of discomfort. Of not knowing how to act or bear witness. So much of everywhere we had been prior to this stop had very little population, so to see so many people (touristing like us for the most part), it made me nervous on how to be. The feeling of discomfort along with the great feeling of sadness made it really difficult to be there. I was on the verge of tears the whole time and felt helpless to affect change.
Pretty powerful image to see; this told us we were near the Greenwood section. On the Oklahoma State University-Tulsa campus, the mural depicts the events of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. It was unveiled in May 2021 and done by artist Michael Rosato.
We had little geographical knowledge of the area and vast ignorance of significant markers. The one above being an example. It sat quietly on the outskirts of the modern downtown area without a soul in site.
The marker says, "Standpipe Hill." The marker denotes the Greenwood District being to the east. From this spot one could view the death and destruction happening on that day in 1921. Interestingly, the marker (which was erected in 2014) calls the event "race riot."
Here is the text:
In 1904 the City of Tulsa built a water tower in the shape of a stove pipe. Thus, Standpipe Hill was named.
To the east, the Greenwood community would grow and prosper, providing the success of "Black Wall Street."
The Race Riot of 1921 resulted in the death of many African-American people, the destruction of hundreds of homes and the burning of churches and businesses in Greenwood. All of this could be seen from atop Standpipe Hill.
From the seeds of overwhelming destruction, African-Americans moved back and rebuilt. But this rebirth of Greenwood would give way to suburban flight and urban renewal.
In the 1980s a new vision was conceived. Land east and north of the hill was dedicated to public higher education for all Tulsans and the region.
More to come…
History Remembered and a Future to be Embraced
I found some of the street signs interesting and telling. "Cheyenne" and "Reconciliation." Who is in need of reconciliation? Indigenous or Black folk or both?
I was super curious when we came to this road. A short blurb on an important man: John Hope Franklin, (born Jan. 2, 1915, Rentiesville, Okla., U.S.—died March 25, 2009, Durham, N.C.), American historian and educator noted for his scholarly reappraisal of the American Civil War era and the importance of the black struggle in shaping modern American identity.
Then this sign signifying we were here. Once an area of 30+ square blocks housing approximately 10,000 black folks in 1921, now all that is left is a short historic area bounded by the Expressway and the Oklahoma State University-Tulsa. The not once, but twice if you count the post-massacre rebuilding, district known as Greenwood was forever changed and dismantled by the building of the expressway right through the district, along with what happened in many cities (and a whole lot of them populated by black folks)=urban renewal projects.
We next came upon the Universitywith this little banner, and were confused/curious about the outdoor exhibit. Could this be Reconciliation Park?
It was not. It was the Elias Walker Woods Memorial. The Ellis Walker Woods Memorial honors the first principal of Tulsa's Booker T. Washington High School. A labor of love for more than 30 years, the conception, fundraising and construction of the memorial was guided by a dedicated committee of BTW alumni and supporters.
Highlighted by a bust of Woods, the memorial includes a ring of tall granite obelisks bearing the images of important figures in the school's history. My teacher heart soared.
There came an awkward moment when a black woman was going to enter the building, stopped. Smiling and seemingly proud, she asked if we wanted our picture taken. Of course we agreed and posed. I would be proud to if this memorial were on my school grounds.
The memorial, unveiled in 2019, took over 30 years to come to fruition.
Education is key! Sure wish I could have stuck around to go inside and view this. The case of so much to do and not enough time.
Next building we came upon: 322 Greenwood Ave.
MABEL B. LITTLE HERITAGE HOUSE
The only residential structure of 1920s Greenwood still standing is a museum with period furnishings and decor. Owned by survivors Sam and Lucy Mackey, it would have been destroyed by urban renewal, but was relocated here. It shares an address and website with the Greenwood Cultural Center next door.
The Greenwood Cultural Center: Through photographs and transcribed interviews, the Greenwood Cultural Center educates visitors about life in Greenwood and the impact of the Race Massacre.
The Greenwood Cultural Center is the keeper of the flame for the Black Wall Street era, the events known as the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, and the astounding resurgence of the Greenwood District in the months and years following the tragedy.
It also has a memorial out front that lists the businesses destroyed and claims filed (and still unpaid) that were in the 12 miles of Greenwood Ave. Some other sobering factoids: there once was 40 sq blocks in Greenwood district, 3.5 sq miles long. Now there is less than a block left. Once there were over 300 businesses in the district, now there are 23. Words associated with the black experience in the last 100 years= dispossessed, negro removal, race riot, race massacre, segregation, racism. IMHO though, the strongest and loudest word I see, feel, and hear is RESILIENCE.
Also, the community is concerned about the tourists like myself who may make the centennial "whitewashed." There is indeed a palpable undercurrent of tension in touristing to bear witness and glean education. I did not at all feel at ease being here. Yet, I still felt I had to come.
It was one of the hottest days of our vacation when we were here. Not many humans out, but at this location we ran into foot traffic.
Finding puddles of shade was the goal while awaiting your turn at reading the plaque.
While also trying to remember social distancing...
Heart-hurt when I got my turn. Not one white person prosecuted, and almost 3 million dollars worth of damages have gone unpaid. What do you do with this kind of knowledge? The problem with bearing witness= the pain it brings.
The expressway that came in the late 1960's, which along with urban (removal) renewal, decimated the community.
The incredible mural on the wall of the expressway. Check out an article from the unveiling in 2018:
More wise words from a black community member, "Don't tell it white, tell it right" in explaining the need to talk about and acknowledge what was done and continues to be done to the Greenwood community.
Vernon AME Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
It is the only standing black-owned structure on Historic Greenwood Ave from the Black Wall Street era and one of the only edifices that remain from the worst race massacres in American history. To this day, Historic Vernon A.M.E Church remains a visual reminder of the Massacre and the reconstruction process.
There is much ado in this centennial year. Plaques, memorials, events, publicity. Yet there still is strife and controversy. I watched and listened from afar as events got shuffled, and then downright cancelled. I was a bit bummed that our vacation was going to be later than the live event "Remember + Rise". I took some consolation in that it was going to also be live broadcasted. Then the big disappointment= unexpectedly cancelled. What!?! Still shaking my head on that one. Fear, racism, ego's, money?
We plugged on in the heat, hoping to wend our way down the short block until we made it to the museum. Reading in the heat of the day was such a minor price to pay- uncomfortable from the heat is way better than uncomfortable from the injustice of it all.
Our city of origin back in Springfield, MA has many parallels to this city. We know and have seen white flight, urban renewal, highways that decimate and split up established neighborhoods, selective segregation, racism, corruption- to name a few. Yet and still, it was hard to see how diminished this once vibrant community is.
Was this little section cleaned up for us, the tourists? What about the other, North Tulsa? Has urban renewal and gentrification pushed black folks to less desirable locations? Is integration happening? Where and how is it going? I would be a fool to ask about critical race theory, not only because this theory is now under attack and actually being dismantled in some communities. If we can't get a pulse on the racial climate in schools, how do we get an honest dialogue/debate/answer on the racial climate in our communities. Putting out "Black Lives Matter" signs on our lawns isn't good enough.
What's this all about? The person, the artist, the event- what? All of the above.
Mary L. Williams, Tulsa native, is the organizer and community volunteer extraordinaire who for over a decade led the Juneteenth on Greenwood event. "Color Me True" are workshops run by her on personal + professional growth. I am assuming she had a hand in the parade that happened here on 5/29/2021
Here's some truth: New York Times article on just the matter mentioned above. Here you have an entire commission and city trying to get long covered up history out to the community and world at large when you have a governor acting the way he did.
And in case you don't click in, here is the last (telling) paragraph on what is going on at the state level here in Oklahoma:
Mr. Stitt was removed from the commission after he signed legislation on May 7 that would ban the teaching of certain concepts about race in Oklahoma schools, a measure that was seen as part of a larger conservative backlash to the teaching of “critical race theory.”
Will the Tulsa Massacre now remain "marginal history"? What will happen after this centennial year passes and us tourists go back home? I was hot under the collar as well as all over as I walked and pondered the future.
Look up, look down. Some history, but far from telling the whole story.
The most disturbing banner seen in all entirety of this trip through 4 midwestern/Prairie states. No hiding the truth from this image and these sobering words.
Off in the distance to the left we espied construction and had no idea what it was. I do have to say how chopped up the city was. We had a hard time finding this little remnant space. It required a lot of work to get here and at times we were very frustrated because there seemed to be construction everywhere.
It was nice to see that these construction workers were of a "mixed race" bag. I remembered reading about concerns over the building of the commemorative museum, "Greenwood Rising." Just how many black contractors were there? How many black construction workers overall?
The city's demographics shows a pretty diverse place: whites about 58%, blacks 16%, Native American 5%, Asian 2%, Some other race 8%, Two or more 6%. However, when the question is posed, "Is Tulsa segregated?" The answer is, "YES." North Tulsa has about 80% of that black demographic living in it. I still always remember learning from a long time ago= ones zip code is a huge determinant of ones past, present, and future.
More heart-hurt in a simple black and white flyer. How could they destroy something as beautiful as this? The awful reality is that this was a very deliberate act of domestic terrorism (white people bombed this neighborhood of families and children from the air!!!) Why? Is race hatred that severe in some people? Why? These folks were not doing anything except chasing the American dream. Was their success so threatening? Why? I really, really don't understand it.
I borrow a few questions from Human Rights Watch:
The confluence of race, poverty and crime documented in the analysis calls for inquiry into larger questions of structural racism: why are black people in Tulsa, and in the US as a whole, relegated to poverty at such a high rate? What power dynamics and policies have created and perpetuated this situation?
And then, after a confused rerouting and wend around to get to the other side of this short historical half block, we arrive where we think we should be.
At first I thought this car was a tourist like us. But they were talking about having the pleasure of singing together and hugging goodbye's. I was trying not to snoop, but I was soooooo curious. We had just learned that the vast amount of detours in the downtown area were related to the big Pride Festival and Parade going on. Were they a part of that or were they affiliated with the museum right in front of us, Greenwood Rising?
I worked up the nerve to ask them if they knew anything about the museum b/c it did not look at all finished and there was a fence all around it.
I had sort of built my trip around seeing this museum and certainly our day spent in the heat of an awfully hot midwest summer day would be rewarded with a romp in the brand spanking new, probably high-tech a/c'ed museum. NOT!!! One of the black guys explained that the museum was only opened for a little bit at the centennial date for the massacre and then closed back up as it was not finished.
And that was the end of that! I had my hopes set on this visit. The website lied. Now the open date is pushed up to August 4th. That is not what the website said in mid-June! Here we were on the corner of infamy (Greenwood + Archer), lost in uncertainty and uncomfortableness. I knew the small signs I saw of potential reconciliation (mixed groups together, black and white men hugging, etc) were my own wishful thinking. Maybe the Centennial was whitewashed? Maybe the museum will do nothing for the still-wanting black community of North Tulsa. I just didn't know. I didn't find a lot of the answers I was seeking, but I definitely learned some things.
Good luck in the next 100 Tulsa!
I leave this post with a few resources:
1. If you can't visit and want a really good interactive resource, visit:
First of all, let me say this. In the modern world, when you don't know something, the new verb phrase is "just google it." But the hubby and I like to debate the minutiae of all things in life. So we haggalled about whether we were going to the Prairie or the Midwest.
I said both.
Yes we had anchor points for our tromp around this 4 state region of the midwest, and I begin with the places we stayed.
Usually we roll deep and strive to see and do as much as we can (practicing the "we may never pass this way again" motto), so where we lay our heads does not matter.
This time it was different. We had 2 specific sleeping places that required pre-registration and two stumble-upons of note.
Here we go:
There were a variety of reasons for exploring Oklahoma- mostly to look into the troubled past of the area and see how things are today.
The history is old. Older than my New England history books or mid-60's and 70's television shows' knowledge.
Land acknowledgements need to be here, for they explain some of the history.
Tulsa and all of Oklahoma, formerly known as "Indian Territory" became an area overrun with settler colonialism.
Today, 39 tribal nations dwell in the state of Oklahoma as a result of settler and colonial policies that were designed to assimilate Native people.
The city of Tulsa is within the tribal boundaries of three of these tribes: the Cherokee Nation, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and Osage Nation.
I acknowledge, honor and respect the diverse Indigenous peoples connected to this land.
Much work is being done to dismantle the egregious effects of the settler colonialism and its awful attempts at erasures and exclusions of Native folk. They are still here and I came to visit and bear witness to the trials and tribulations they faced. To try to see and understand what it is like on the Prairie in the 21st century.
In searching for a place to stay, this area B+B/Inn came up for its early history tied to Native People: STAY PLACE 1
Depending on where you get your information, there is either NOTHING or very little on the real history behind this place.
This is what it says, "The historic home was built in 1890 by a prominent Native American family."
And that is it. No name, no history of the historic home. Nada. The Inn did not have any literature either. No books, pamphlets, wall hangings, etc. What little history came in the way of anecdotal oral history from the Innkeeper (who was a very sweet young lady).
Even knowing the family name did not produce reams of literature on this site or the family's accomplishments. I scrambled to find out if there was a book I could purchase to learn more. One museum either did not know and/or feigned ignorance when I called to inquire. The woman took my name and number, vowed to check their library and bookstore and call me back- she never did.
The family name was Perryman and their history is one of mixed heritage, a phenomena that has happened for many of us here in the melting pot USA. The Perrymans didn't start in Tulsa (as was the case for many tribes that were expelled from their tribal lands in that awful period of US history), but instead migrated from the Georgia area.
The family’s legacy began with Benjamin Perryman, the son of a Welsh trader and a Creek Indian woman. Tecumseh Perryman, a member of the Creek tribe/Perryman family, was the original owner of this property.
However, Tecumseh is not mentioned. Very hard to find out information about this Perryman descendant. What is known: the first floor of the dwelling – made from rocks – was originally a home built in 1890 and owned by Tecumseh Perryman. He was descended from Creek Nation Indians and an allotee of land from the Federal Government. Allegedly, Tecumseh was only 17 when he came to own this land.
The history of land stealing goes back as far as the first immigrant footsteps on North American soil. How and why this was done will be forever debated. The fact is that it was done. Here in the US we had our own particular way of "acquiring" Indigenous land.
The U.S. federal government began the policy of allotting Indian land as early as 1798. Several treaties with Indian tribes included provisions that stated land would be divided among their individual members. After 1871, however, Congress declared that no further treaties would be made and all future dealings with Indians would be conducted through legislation.
Yup, much like this area- known for its huge cattle ranches, cow towns, and long arduous cattle drives, the US government removed thousands of Eastern Indigenous folk to this new land in Oklahoma "Indian Territory," and began a series of head-scratching, convoluted laws on land allotments.
Tecumseh Perryman becomes lost in history accepting this exceptional preservation piece of land. We were awed and thankful to score this night's stay. Much ado has been made over the current owners 6 year renovation efforts. It really is a beautiful property. We had the additional great fortune to have the entire property to ourselves! We stayed in the Tecumseh section though, which was a bit dark and tiny bit scary.
Along with the requisite painting of the Inn on the rock walls.
Of course I had to take a picture in the mirror to see if any apparitions showed up with me. NONE. Nor any spooky knocks in the night (unless you count my husbands snores, which sometimes include knocking snorts).
A surprise treat was to find the new construction was done with labeled bricks thrown in. How'd they know I am a labeled brick enthusiast!?
Sure wish I had found that one (Pawhuska OK)! We went to this town later on our sojourn.
And we stayed in this BIG brick-making former cow town.
Hot damn if we didn't score one...
Or two!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next up= a bucket list pick. While still in Oklahoma, up North heading to Kansas we scored a night in the ONLY Frank Lloyd Wright built SKYSCRAPER (and now hotel!!!) in Bartlesville, OK!
STAY PLACE 2
We could see the tower as we drove into town. The anticipatory thrill was an awesome feeling.
The gorgeous, signature green of FLW- what a sight!
Not originally built as a Hotel/Inn, it only became so in 2003. The Price Tower is a nineteen-story, 221-foot-high skyscraper built in 1956 to be an office building.
Checking in.
Check it out!
Hubby found the signature FLW tile!
While I found the National Register plaques.
Love the font!
The lobby was spot on FLW! Today, this is the building's main foyer, but when Price Tower opened, this ground-floor space was a dress shop, helping to meet Wright's requirement that the building be mixed-use. Those low couches were killer to sit and get up from though. Oh aging...
The female architect (yeah for woman!) chosen for the redesign, Wendy Evans Joseph, did a wonderful job at restoring this gorgeous place and turning 21 rooms into a boutique hotel.
For a nice article on Wendy + the award she got see here:
We had a phenomenal time spending the night in this awesome place.
Hard to imagine that this once glorious place went for many years unused and declining. Also hard to judge is how much of a comeback it has had. Covid has certainly made for strange times. Even in post-Covid, we saw larger cities and smaller towns in our travels around Oklahoma that were little trafficked and some almost ghost town'ish.
The FLW details were everywhere. Wright designed a corporate logo for the Price Company, and every floor of the building has one embedded there. The building is oriented in the same direction as the logo. We learned about and begged our way into an interpretive tour that was Covid-limited. They squeezed us into the 4-person group. We were ecstatic!
The Cooper Restaurant wasn't open :( It also isn't original to the building, instead built as a part of the renovation).
Our tour guide, a wonderful gentlemen from Tulsa, filled us with anecdotal stories of the legendary FLW and his tyrannical ways when it came to building HIS buildings.
A nice video below on the Price family and their relationship to FLW and Bartlesville. The word "compromised" was used a lot on the tour. Above is one of the "compromises." The family wanted a mural, FLW wanted his favorite poet. Guess who "won"?
Conceptual drawing of the tower. In keeping with FLW's affinity to Nature, the tower is supposed to invoke the look and feel of a tree.
The Bartlesville landmark named Price Tower, commissioned from legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright, served as offices for the H.C. Price International Pipeline Company for a quarter-century, from 1956 to 1981.
Initially, there were eight apartments in the building, with Bruce Goff (an architect of note who was mentored by FLW) living and working in the Price Tower for nearly nine years. The first and second floors of the Price Tower were designed for retail and housed a women’s dress shop, a beauty salon, and the offices of the Public Service Company of Oklahoma. On the floors above there were a variety of professional offices with the Price Company occupying the top seven floors of the tower including a sixteenth-floor commissary where free lunches were prepared and served to their employees. The seventeenth and eighteenth floors housed the Price Company corporate apartment and the company’s conference room. The nineteenth floor penthouse was the office suite for H.C. Price and his assistant.
When the Price businesses relocated to Dallas in 1981, Phillips Petroleum purchased the 19-story tower. After falling into disrepair, it was refurbished in 2000 and donated the following year to the nonprofit Price Tower Arts Center, formerly known as the Bartlesville Museum.
This bit of history is interesting especially as the tour guide told us about the competition with Philips for the tallest building in town. It seems the two men, Price and Philips were big names around town in mid-century Bartlesville, OK.
The museum had furniture from some of the offices. The tour took us into the executive office of Mr. Price as well as the corporate apartment (I wink, winked this one b/c we learned that his executive secretary- who shared a very tiny adjacent office to Mr. Price, was with him for some ridunkulous amount of time like 29 or 39 years), but we were unable to take pictures there.
Museum had a lot of FLW ugly + uncomfortable furniture.
Still standing and we drove by it later in the day. Not observable, but the signature FLW gate was there.
More of that really uncomfortable-looking furniture he insisted on designing himself.
The model of what our hotel room would/did look like.
Nice job Wendy!
History in the making!
History in the making!
The view from the top looking down to the train station and 2nd Street. Once the office building for Price when he started out in business (circa 1920). 2nd St. also has a sordid history from it's wilder days at the turn of the 20th century. The downtown is now a historic district, but it is now pretty empty.
The tour guide showed us this (must get) book of FLW sites that are open to visit. We had one more FLW site to see on our trip in Arkansas.
STAY PLACE 3
An additional anchor stay was at the World Famous Most Haunted Hotel in the USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The drive into Eureka Springs is trippy. It was dusk and we had been on the road for a while. We still had an 8pm Ghost Tour to get to in town, and we had to go to the hotel first and check in. The Ozarks of Arkansas has many things, most of which we chose not to see (like areas in Northwest Arkansas that have histories of white supremacy, bigotry, sundown towns, etc.), but for years many folks have told us to head to the freaky, funky, ultra-liberal (aka hippy'ish) Eureka Springs. Cradled between 2 mountains, the roads wind and wend, down and up, into this valley of mostly Victorian homes (and over 200+ air b+b's). In one of the dips is the above sign, which hardly prepares you for the next up wend to the top of a hill and...
This! Even though this is a historical picture, the restored modern site is not that different.
It was a Monday night, but the parking lot was full and the place was hopping! Did I mention that Eureka Springs is a huge tourist place? It is.
Known as the Grand Old Lady of the Ozarks, the place has quite the history. First a grand hotel, empty by the depression, then a hospital with a quacky dr. (who ends up in jail), next a college and conservatory for young women, and now a tourist trap.
It was fun to tourist for a day or two on this vacation. We stayed at a similar place in Jerome, Az. a few years back and it was good to have a comparison.
It definitely felt old and lived in.
With some old style and elegance (even if we did get our pizza at 11p. from the bar on the 4th floor, lol).
The old style keys were a cool touch.
As was the cool door with nice old hardware knob in the middle of it.
The room looked and felt old and lived in. The requisite painting of the place was on the wall. Wonder how much it cost to have this semi-mass produced picture go up in all the rooms? Probably a pittance compared to the tourist dollars being pulled in.
The back of the house did seem to have brown-skinned folk (yes I found this throughout the trip, I am not going to lie).
But the tourists were a wonderful blend of colors and cultures (even if a woman with child pulled her child close and moved and clutched her bag as she walked past us- I am more convinced it wasn't the 'fro like hair on me but the combo of that plus the dude with a bejeweled and braided beard standing next to me, lol).
In all honesty, despite it being a lovely old hotel, nothing rattled or went bump in the night. The closest I came to getting spooked was finding this kitty that didn't seem to be moving at all. See video below.
The most intriguing part about this place, was not the ghost tour (we didn't take), the hauntedness of the place (wasn't IMHO), but the unscrupulous and evil man who perpetrated fraud and trickery on vulnerable human beings who came here and died (and did not get cured as his false advertising promised). These dead spirits may linger about the place, sad and stuck in the ether, this is more believable to me. I did buy a book in town about the place. Here is a link to a good, short article the Smithsonian Magazine did on the place:
The final place was a stumble-upon. We were scrambling for the last night stay- needing something relatively close to the airport. Here is what we found:
This is the Johnson Mill Building that was converted into a hotel. How cool is that? Now on my 3rd Mill Hotel stay (just sayin'). It has a couple of dates for construction (mid-1800's).
The mill ran well into the 20th century. It had a few name changes:
-1834 surveyor's field notes gave the name, Truesdale Mill to the location which in 1860 was known as Button's Mill.
-Button's Mill, which belonged to Seneca Button's widow, Isabella Button, was listed in the Arkansas Products of Industry Census for 1860 (I wonder if Seneca Button was an Indian???).
-And some more history: Isabella Button was the first appointed postmistress in the area of what is known today as the town of Johnson.
-In November, 1865, a deed was filed transferring the mill property to William, Samuel and Lucinda Mayes and Jacob Q. and Rhetta J. Johnson
-Two years later, 1867, J. Q. Johnson registered as the miller of 'Spring Mill.' It is believed reconstructing the present mill took about two years.
-In 1880, J. Q. and Rietta, bought the Mayes family's share in the mill and it became known as the 'Johnson Mill', a name it carried for the next 111 years.
Not only does the site have bad juju from the war destruction, but there is also bad blood in the Johnson family around this mill.
It seems there was a brotherly riff that came about at the death of the father of the family, James Johnson.
When James died, B. F. and J. Q. got into a heated argument blaming their father's death on each other. The rage and fury was so strong that at the first opportunity,B. F. repossessed the Mill and Johnson House from his brother and gave the entire property to his own son, B. B. Johnson.
There are some features that remain, like the exposed walnut beams inside the check-in/eating area, but for the most part the site is very modernized (and currently owned by an architect).
Once again we were almost the only ones on site. A very peaceful and serene site.
My favorite plaques!
Nary a ghost in sight.
'Twas a lovely place to spend our last night in the midwest!
