Synopsis
'Eureka Springs: Stair-Step-Town' (1952) by Cora Pinkley-Call is a short, folksy nonfiction book—only that offers a native's affectionate, mid-20th-century portrait of the quirky northwest Arkansas town nestled in the Ozark hills.
Written in a warm, conversational style by a longtime local resident and booster from one of the founding families, it presents a background history of Eureka Springs as the famous "Stair-Step-Town" that literally climbs the steep hillsides with winding streets, stone retaining walls, public stairways (including the notable Jacob's Ladder), and Victorian buildings stacked amid ravines—earning it nicknames like "the town that climbs the hills" or "America's Little Switzerland."
The narrative begins with the town's dramatic overnight boom in 1879–1880 after publicity around its numerous natural "healing springs," which drew tens of thousands of health-seekers in the 1880s and 1890s hoping for cures from the mineral waters; it then traces the rapid growth into a bustling Victorian resort, followed by its later decline due to advances in modern medicine, economic hardships, and the impacts of two World Wars, leaving it in a quieter state by the time of writing.
Beyond straight chronology, the book weaves in chapters on local folkways, nature and the Ozark landscape, religion, patriotism, and everyday pioneer life, while expressing the author's irritation at outsiders' stereotypes of hill people. It mixes verifiable events—like the capture of outlaw Bill Doolin or a dramatic 1922 bank robbery—with handed-down family stories, Native American legends, tall tales, and local lore (some of which the author or reviewers note as potentially embellished or mythical, such as tales linking the springs to Ponce de León). Photographs accompany the text, adding a visual, snapshot-like quality.
Overall, rather than a rigorous academic history, it's a charming, personal collection of stories that captures the town's unique geography, resilient spirit, and colorful past through Cora Pinkley-Call's enthusiastic, patriotic, and occasionally preachy voice as a proud daughter of the Ozarks. Readers often describe it as a quaint, quick read that preserves oral traditions from the pioneer era, even if some details feel hearsay-driven. The book remains valued today more for its cultural flavor and the author's infectious hometown pride than for exhaustive factual detail.