From Main Street, Eureka Springs looking up at the Basin Park, from the main strip of Eureka Springs, the backs of those houses are misleading except for the fact that most houses and restaurants and shops are built into the geology of the hills on which they sit. The Basin Park hotel is a bit of a centerpiece to the town, sort of helping to create the aura of timelessness and long-standing status of the community... it's like a mining town that went in the direction of being a cultural haven for all the flagging spirits of the south and midwest.

http://www.basinpark.com/history.php