RockHouse

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=90 BGCOLOR="#666666" TEXT="#080000" background="001b85a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Landmarks</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Landmarks"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <B>RockHouse</B>   |   <A HREF="basin_spring_park.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Basin Spring Park">Basin Spring Park</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>RockHouse</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="0d9c2190.jpg" border=0 width="962" height="281" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>The famous Rock House</B> -- used as a dwelling for scores of hunters and early settlers was also used as an infirmary during the Civil War. Although it is City property, access to it is by way of private property.  Partial viewing can be made from various points along the wooden stairwary shown across the top of the photo -- but these photos were captured from Mike Kletcha's outdoor patio.  Stairway access can be from Benton Street above or from 27 S Main Street below.  The below Landmark Marker can be found on one of the stairway landings.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B><IMG SRC="0f153590.jpg" border=0 width="339" height="345" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="8" VSPACE="0"></B></FONT><B>T</B><B>he Rock House Cave and Saloon</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="0f3861e0.jpg" border=0 width="390" height="286" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="8" VSPACE="0">     Osage Indians made their homes under rocky overhangs for centuries before early European explorers came seeking the legendary healing springs or American pioneers finally reached the vicinity where they identified and named the basin spring.</div> <div>      Hunters from nearby settlements, tracking deer and bear, encamped there also in early years of the 19th Century.  </div> <div>      Alvah Jackson, a pioneer physician, of ten visited the Healing Spring and used its waters to treat disease.  </div> <div>      The Civil War brought armies of both North and South into the vicinity and many skirmishes occurred.  The Battle of Pea Ridge was fought just 20 miles away.  Soldiers, either wounded in battle, or wore out from the stress of the war, were brought to the Indian Healing Spring.  Dr. Jackson treated their wounds in a makeshift “Hospital” under the bluff which came to be called the Rock House.  Tradition tells that the soldiers who came were both Confederate and Union and all received help from Dr. Jackson, assisted by the healing waters.</div> <div>      Health seekers arriving at Basin Spring in the 1880s found the rough sawn board enclosure under the bluff being used for a variety of purposes, including for a time, the Rock House Saloon.  The present small limestone structure dates from about 1900.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="0e620580.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="600" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="0dd20580.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="600" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The Rock House is still in process of undergoing some renovations.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="0df20580.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="600" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="0e120580.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="600" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="0e320580.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="600" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> The below two photos show much less of the Rock House since they were taken from the Stairway landing.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="0eb20580.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="600" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="0ef20580.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="600" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Below photo of 27 Spring St -- shows stairway access to view the Rock House and read the Landmark Marker.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="0f5998c0.jpg" border=0 width="665" height="396" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Landmarks">Return to Landmarks</A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>