Blue Spring Shelter
National Register of Historic Places

Blue Spring Shelter

Eureka Springs, Carroll County, Arkansas
Listed
December 20, 2002
Type
Site
Period
Modern
Ref No.
02001596

About this property

Blue Spring Heritage Center (formerly known as Eureka Springs Gardens) is a 33-acre (13 ha) privately owned tourist attraction in the Arkansas Heritage Trails System containing native plants and hardwood trees in a setting of woodlands, meadows, and hillsides. It is located at Highway 62 West, five miles (8 km) west of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and open daily to the public during warmer months for a fee. The spring pours 38 million US gallons (140,000 m³) of water daily into the trout-filled lagoon. Blue Spring has been a tourist attraction since 1948, and is now on the National Register of Historic Places for its archaeological significance as a site occupied between the Early Archaic and the Mississippian periods. Historians from several Indian nations, including the Tsalagi (Cherokee), Osage and Quapaw, say their people have been making journeys to, and living intermittently at Blue Spring for tens of thousands of years. Artifacts excavated at the Blue Spring Shelter support this, as they date back to between 8000 B.C. and A.D. 1500.

Location

Eureka Springs, Carroll County, Arkansas

Categories

PREHISTORIC
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Overview
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The Land
The historic sites and place names around the location, and how this land was settled and used.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back millions of years.
LiDAR Terrain
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Conflict & War
The battles, raids and skirmishes fought near here, across every era of American conflict.
The Civil War
The Civil War on this ground, 1861 to 1865: who held it, and the battles, camps and regiments nearby.
The Soldiers
The men who marched from here in the Civil War, named and traced where the record allows.
Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
Who claimed and held this ground, from Indigenous homelands through the colonial powers to the United States.
The Community
How the town grew, who came, and what kind of place it became, traced through the census record.
Rivers & Rail
The rivers, canals and railroads that connected this place between 1830 and 1911.
Notable People
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Historical Maps
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Finds & Access
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Literature
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Spotlight
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Points of Interest
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Timeline
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Questions about this property

When was Blue Spring Shelter listed on the National Register?

Blue Spring Shelter was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 20, 2002.

What type of historic resource is Blue Spring Shelter?

Blue Spring Shelter is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Blue Spring Shelter?

The period of significance for Blue Spring Shelter is recorded as the modern era, specifically around 2003.

Can I research the history near Blue Spring Shelter?

Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Blue Spring Shelter will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.

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