A hole in the Bible Belt: Gay oasis in the Ozarks of Arkansas

By Phil Nash

In our early years together, my partner (now husband) and I planned our road trips to bypass any state with sodomy laws: Arkansas, for example.

But times change. Those laws are in history’s dustbin.

Still, what would attract an urban gay couple to an Arkansas vacation?

Years ago, some friends told us about Eureka Springs, an improbable gay mecca in the Ozarks.

Huh? OK. We’ll put it on the bucket list – toward the bottom.

Then, in November 2011, Walmart heiress Alice Walton opened the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Walmart’s home base on the Ozarks’ fringes. After researching the prime time for fall foliage – Halloween week – we headed south. Art beckons!

Day one: Bentonville and Crystal Bridges, stopping first at the Walmart Visitor Center. This free museum is Sam Walton’s first independently owned five-and-dime (1950) and is located on a shady town square dominated by a monument to the Confederacy. Nostalgia in more ways than one.

From downtown, a short trail leads to Crystal Bridges (free: thank you, Walmart shoppers). Several domelike structures of glass, stone and metal nestle in a wooded valley, floating above large reflecting pools. Ms. Walton’s vision was a museum that tells America’s story through three centuries of art. From colonial-era depictions of Native Americans, to Hudson River nature painters, to American impressionists, to the colorful austerity of Georgia O’Keefe, to the bombastic pop art of Andy Warhol and op art of Josef Albers, Ms. Walton’s collection emphasizes breadth over depth – best-in-class over playing favorites.

Then it was off to Eureka Springs, an hour’s drive eastward and upward along picturesque winding roads. As you approach town, more nostalgia – antique shops and Ripley’s-Believe-It-Or-Not roadside attractions. Hospitality is homegrown with more Bed and Breakfast’s and tourist cabins than EconoLodges, and lots of mom-n-pop restaurants.

Eureka Springs is so named for the dozens of coldwater springs reported to have healing powers. In 1879, the town heaved itself into existence when a huckster touted his cure from a crippling disease to the wider world. Six months later, it was a tent city of 10,000 people seeking a cure for what ailed them. Soon the railroad arrived, gingerbread mansions were built, and fortunes were made.

Shoddy sewers fouled the waters more than a century ago, and Eureka Springs has been reinventing itself ever since. In the ’60s and ’70s, artists, preservationists and gays launched a revival, and today, the Victorian gem is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Stay a week and you will not run out of things to do. First, take the $15 trolley tour for the overview. Later, stroll the winding streets with their amazing array of shops ranging from upscale souvenirs to haute couture to fine art and craft. Rainbow flags and equality logos are everywhere. Plan to spend some money and chat up the friendly shopkeepers.

The area has something for everyone. Architecture buffs will marvel over the “underground” tunnels downtown, the hillside Victorians, and the celebrated Thorncrown Chapel. Outdoor buffs will find lakes for boating and fishing, trails for hiking, and the Buffalo National River for floating. In fall, it’s all about the landscapes. Just drive along the country roads – perhaps to the 1832 War Eagle Mill, where grains are ground as they were in the 19th century. Music? Many professional musicians live nearby and play at local venues.

Holidays are a very big deal in Eureka Springs. Halloween transformed entire neighborhoods into hellish graveyards, streets crawling with costumed kids and adults trying to out-freak each other. The nearly weeklong frightfest culminates with a Zombie Parade through town – an official Diversity Weekend event, but who knew gay from straight?

And that is encouraging – a small town in the rural South has found a harmonious balance with families, artists, entrepreneurs, retirees and its out-and-proud LGBT residents. Together, they are pulling together to energize a vibrant local economy and to preserve a unique heritage. Just how it should be everywhere.

Eureka!

Phil Nash has been writing his way through life since he wrote a book report about a fake novel in the 9th grade. Nash has spent most of his career writing for foundations, nonprofits, elected officials, an ambassador and, once up on a time, for Out Front as its editor.